Population Council

Information about Population Council

The Population Council is an international, nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The Council conducts biomedical, social science, and public health research and helps build research capacities in developing countries.[1][2] One-third of its research relates to HIV and AIDS; its other major program areas are reproductive health and poverty, youth, and gender. It held the license for Norplant, and now holds the license for Mirena. The Population Council also publishes the journal Population and Development Review, which reports scientific research on the interrelationships between population and socioeconomic development and provides a forum for discussion of related issues of public policy.

The organization

Established in 1952 by John D. Rockefeller 3rd, with important funding from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Council is governed by an international board of trustees. The 2006 board includes leaders in biomedicine, business, economic development, government, health, international finance, the media, philanthropy, and social science.

Headquartered in New York, the Population Council has 18 offices in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and does work in more than 60 countries. With an annual budget of around $74 million, it employs more than 500 people from 33 countries with expertise in a wide array of scientific disciplines. Roughly 55 percent are based outside the United States.

Controversially, the Council has its roots in the eugenics movement. The first president of the Council was a eugenicist appointed by Rockefeller; Frederick Osborn, author of Preface to Eugenics (New York, 1940), leader of the American Eugenics Society, and one of the founding member of the Pioneer Fund. Osborn was vice president or president of the Population Council until 1959. In 1968 he wrote, "Eugenic goals are most likely to be achieved under another name than eugenics."[3]

Reproductive health

The Council conducts biomedical research to develop contraceptives and social science research to better understand the factors influencing access to and decision-making around contraceptives.[4] Its fundamental research on reproductive and immunological processes serves not only as the basis for the development of new contraceptive methods to meet the needs of both women and men, but also for new hormone therapies and AIDS-prevention products.

In the 1960s, the Council played a key role in documenting the large numbers of people in poor countries who lacked access to contraceptives and in conducting research to design and evaluate public family planning programs. At the same time, the Council's biomedical researchers worked to develop new contraceptive methods, such as the intrauterine device.

Some contraceptives available in some countries today were developed by the Population Council: the Copper T IUD, Norplant, and Mirena. More than 50 million Copper T IUDs have been distributed in over 70 countries. Norplant was taken off the market in the US and the UK.

The British medical journal Lancet said of the Population Council, "Most non-governmental organisations claim to promote change for the better; the Population Council actually has hard evidence of having changed the lives and expectations of hundreds of millions of people." (Vol. 361, June 7, 2003, review)

References and further reading

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ [2]
3. ^ Betsy Hartmann (2006). Everyday Eugenics. Zmag. Retrieved on 2006-11-27.
4. ^ [3]
  • Memoirs, David Rockefeller, New York: Random House, 2002.

See also

External links

non-governmental organization (NGO) is a legally constituted organization created by private persons or organizations with no participation or representation of any government.
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Biomedical engineering (BME) is the application of engineering principles and techniques to the medical field. It combines the design and problem solving skills of engineering with the medical and biological science to help improve patient health care and the quality of life
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The social sciences are a group of academic disciplines that study human aspects of the world. They diverge from the arts and humanities in that the social sciences tend to emphasize the use of the scientific method in the study of humanity, including quantitative and qualitative
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Public health is concerned with threats to the overall health of a community based on population health analysis. Health is defined and promoted differently by many organizations.
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    Human immunodeficiency virus 1
  • Human immunodeficiency virus 2
International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems Codes
Classification & external resources

ICD-10 B20-B24
ICD-9 042 - 044
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Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)
Classification & external resources

The Red ribbon is a symbol for solidarity with HIV-positive people and those living with AIDS.
ICD-10 B 24.
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Norplant is a form of birth control developed by the Population Council that was first approved in 1983 in Finland, where it was manufactured by Leiras Oy Pharmaceuticals. The original Norplant consisted of a set of six small (2.
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The IntraUterine System or IUS is a hormonal contraceptive device that is placed in the uterus. An IUS has a hormone cylinder that releases a progestin (progestogen) called levonorgestrel.
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John Davison Rockefeller III (March 21, 1906 – July 10, 1978) was a major philanthropist and third-generation member of the prominent Rockefeller family. He was the eldest son of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. (Junior) and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, and the grandson of John D.
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The Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF), (Philanthropy for an Interdependent World), is an international philanthropic organisation created and run by members of the Rockefeller family.
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State of New York

Flag of New York Seal
Nickname(s): The Empire State
Motto(s): Excelsior!

Official language(s) None

Capital Albany
Largest city New York City

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Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30,221,532 km² (11,668,545 sq mi) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area, and 20.4% of the total land area.
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Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area (or 29.4% of its land area) and, with almost 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population.
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Latin America (Portuguese and Spanish: América Latina; French: Amérique Latine) is the region of the Americas where Romance languages, those derived from Latin (particularly Spanish and Portuguese), are primarily spoken.
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Eugenics is a social philosophy which advocates the improvement of human hereditary traits through various forms of intervention.[1] Throughout history, eugenics has been regarded by its various advocates as a social responsibility, an altruistic stance of a society,
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Major General Frederick Henry Osborn (21 March 1889—5 January 1981) was an American philanthropist, military leader, and eugenicist. He was a founder of several organizations, and played a central part in reorienting eugenics in the years following World War II away from the
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The Pioneer Fund is a U.S. non-profit foundation established in 1937. It is currently headed by psychology professor J. Philippe Rushton. Its stated purpose is "to advance the scientific study of heredity and human differences.
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Birth control, sometimes synonymous with contraception, is a regimen of one or more actions, devices, or medications followed in order to deliberately prevent or reduce the likelihood of pregnancy or childbirth.
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Family planning is often used as a synonym for the use of birth control, though its connotations are somewhat different. It is most usually applied to the circumstance of a monogamous female-male couple who wish to limit the number of children they have and/or to control the timing
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Norplant is a form of birth control developed by the Population Council that was first approved in 1983 in Finland, where it was manufactured by Leiras Oy Pharmaceuticals. The original Norplant consisted of a set of six small (2.
..... Click the link for more information.
The IntraUterine System or IUS is a hormonal contraceptive device that is placed in the uterus. An IUS has a hormone cylinder that releases a progestin (progestogen) called levonorgestrel.
..... Click the link for more information.
Demography is the statistical study of all populations. It can be a general science that can be applied to any kind of dynamic population, that is, one that changes over time or space (see population dynamics).
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reproductive health, or sexual health/hygiene, addresses the reproductive processes, functions and system at all stages of life. Reproductive health, therefore, implies that people are able to have a responsible, satisfying and safe sex life and that they have the
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Sustainable development is a socio-ecological process characterized by the fulfilment of human needs while maintaining the quality of the natural environment indefinitely. The linkage between environment and development was globally recognized in 1980, when the International Union
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John Davison Rockefeller III (March 21, 1906 – July 10, 1978) was a major philanthropist and third-generation member of the prominent Rockefeller family. He was the eldest son of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. (Junior) and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, and the grandson of John D.
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The Rockefeller family, the family of John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937) ("Senior") and his brother William Rockefeller (1841-1922), is an American industrial, banking, philanthropic, and political family of German American origin that made the world's largest private fortune in the
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The Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF), (Philanthropy for an Interdependent World), is an international philanthropic organisation created and run by members of the Rockefeller family.
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SourceWatch (formerly Disinfopedia), is an internet site which is a "collaborative project" of the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) created by the CMD's research director, Sheldon Rampton.
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