CB BureauTranscervical Reversible Female Contraception (TRFC) – a non-surgical and completely reversible alternative to tubectomy – will go into trials on humans in a year as the research project has got considerable funding from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The research is one of the two unique ideas from India that have won the prestigious Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation grant for being ‘novel ideas to improve global health’.
Transcervical Reversible Female Contraception has shown 100 per cent efficacy in small animal trials, like on rats and rabbits, while experiments on large animals like goats will begin in a few months before being tried on humans.
Another project funded by the foundation is the development of a biodegradable polymer to coat copper T intrauterine devices. It is an attempt to eliminate the side effects associated with copper T intrauterine devices (IUD), by coating the copper with biodegradable polymers. The polymers could prevent bulk shedding of copper ions that cause bleeding, cramping and pain, leading to increased acceptance of this highly effective contraceptive device.
The development in IUD will popularize the long-term birth-control method.
Both these projects, the first by Prof. Sujoy Guha of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, and the other by Abi Santosh Aprem of HLL Lifecare Ltd, will each receive $100,000 in grant to help further their research work.
The foundation announced 67 grants to support projects in 16 countries, with ideas as diverse as a TB vaccine delivered in a traditional Asian bean dish, a mobile phone tool to identify complications for community health workers caring for pregnant women and newborns, and solar-powered, therapeutic blankets of light for newborns suffering from jaundice.