NIH CONTRACEPTIVE DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE PLANNED FOR FY 1986

NIH CONTRACEPTIVE DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE PLANNED FOR FY 1986 would be funded at $3.35 mil., National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Acting Director Duane Alexander told a March 27 hearing before the House Commerce/Health Subcmte. The initiative would "take advantage of some of the discoveries that are coming in from our basic reproductive sciences research programs that hold great promise for new types of contraception that will be applicable to different segments and ages of the population," Alexander said. NIH contraceptive development grant funding increased from $5.05 mil. in FY 1984 to $7.7 mil. in FY 1985, Alexander said, while funding for contraceptive evaluation increased from $2.5 mil in FY 1984 to $3.45 mil. in FY 1985. Subcmte. Chairman Waxman (D-Calif.) convened the hearing to receive testimony on reauthorization of the Public Health Service Act Title X family planning service program. In FY 1984, NIH "planned to spend over $11 mil." on contraceptive research, "but ended up spending almost 40% less than that," Waxman asserted. This was the "same year" that the congressional Office of Technology Assessment recommended that the agency spend "an additional $20 mil. on contraceptive development," he added.