Contraceptive pills for men have been successfully tested by Shanghai experts working with Edinburgh University in the first experiment of its kind in the world, China Daily reported on August 1.
"This is a great breakthrough in the process of helping husbands share the burden of contraception in the new century," Zhu Huibing, vice-director of Shanghai Institute of Family Planning Technical Instruction, was quoted as saying.
Edinburgh University of Scotland also revealed part of the research report last month.
In Shanghai, 30 men in their 30s, all married with children, took part in the research which ended in March. They took one or two pills containing progestin every day for periods ranging from six months to one year.
Progestin is a synthetic hormone combination commonly used by women to prevent pregnancy. "This is the first time to apply progestin to men in the world," Zhu said.
The effects were clear. Over 90 percent of the volunteers stopped producing sperm during the period of experiment.
After they stopped taking the pills, they all recovered their sperm production two or three months afterwards, the paper said.
