changing needs of men and women during the course of 

 their reproductive lives, guarantee that a single, 

 ideal contraceptive method will never be found. 

 Contraception for the male merits high research 

 priority, along with expanded study of methods aimed at 

 the female. Possibilities include biodegradeable 

 systems for the delivery of injectable hormonal 

 contraception, immunological approaches, and reversible 

 sterilization procedures. Choice among research topics 

 should consider both the effectiveness of such 

 potential systems and their prospects for scientific 

 discovery. 



Promising technologies are already in the 

 development stage and promising leads have come from 

 past research, but additional expertise and funding are 

 needed to exploit these possibilities. We recommend 

 that the United States propose international support 

 for a priority international program of biomedically 

 oriented contraceptive research. Many of the basic 

 studies could be conducted in this country, but 

 adaptive work needs to be conducted in local settings 

 in both the United States and developing countries, as 

 does study of the sociocultural factors affecting the 

 use of contraceptives. Support should also be provided 

 for local manufacture, assembly, distribution, and 

 marketing of new contraceptive devices as they are 

 developed. 



Although national fertility patterns are controlled 

 by the complex interplay of a number of social and 

 economic forces, better contraceptive procedures would 

 certainly influence family size and spacing, ultimately 

 having a major impact on the rate of world population 

 growth. 



Urbanization and Industrialization 



Exciting possibilities exist for applied research 

 in the industrial, urban, transportation, and 

 communication sectors. For example, a concerted 

 international effort could be made to apply a systems 

 approach to building or rebuilding urban communities, 

 with special attention to the needs of the poorest 

 inhabitants. Integrated adjustments in housing, 

 transport, communications, industrial siting, and land 

 use could improve living conditions and balance the 

 relationship between urban and rural development. 



Achieving these purposes in developing countries 

 largely depends on the growth of both urban and rural 

 industries. National capabilities for fitting 

 industrial technologies to local conditions are key 

 factors in establishing effective overall development 

 patterns, as is a better understanding of the 



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