Have you ever figured yourself in a situation of unwanted pregnancy or found yourself in a pregnancy blame game?
If you are a man aged between 18 and 50 you don’t need to worry any more. An exciting global study on male contraception is happening right here in Kenya, and you are invited to enroll.
Kenyan men will be expected to join others around the world for the 52 weeks trial taking place daily. If, after 12 weeks, their sperm levels haven’t decreased enough to prevent pregnancy, they’ll keep using the gel for up to 16 weeks.
Once sperm levels have declined enough to consider the gel safe to use as contraception, the couples will have a 52-week trial period to see if it actually works to prevent pregnancy. After that, men will be monitored for another 24 weeks once they have stopped using the gel to see if there are any lingering side effects.
All the men in the experiment, a phase-two clinical trial, will be required to apply a gel on their shoulders. This gel is supposed to lower the sperm count to a point where they cannot impregnate a woman.
The trial committee will enlist up to 60 couples from Kenya for the study. Globally, more than 420 couples will be recruited to take part in the trial.
The gel formulation was developed by the Population Council and the US National Institutes of Health’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).
Kenya is the first African country to be chosen for a study of the sort, according to Dr John Kinuthia, the Kenya site principle investigator for the study. Kenya’s NICHD’s Contraceptive Clinical Trials Network (CCTN) site is at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH).
“But importantly, we are testing to ensure that it has none or very minimal side effects,” adds the doctor.
The men in the study must intend to remain in the relationship for at least two years, according to Dr Kinuthia.
