The WHO Task Force on Vaccines for Fertility Regulation. Its formation, objectives and research activities

Over the past 18 years, the WHO Task Force on Vaccines for FertilityRegulation has been supporting basic and clinical research onthe development of birth control vaccines directed against thegametes or the preimplantation embryo. These studies have involvedthe use of advanced procedures in peptide chemistry, hybridomatechnology and molecular genetics as well as the evaluationof a number of novel approaches in general vaccinology. As aresult of this inter national, collaborative effort, a prototypeanti-HCG vaccine is now undergoing clinical testing, raisingthe prospect that a totally new family planning method may beavailable before the end of the current decade.