The Population Council is an international, nonprofit,
non-governmental organizationA non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...
. The Council conducts biomedical, social science, and
public healthPublic health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...
research and helps build research capacities in developing countries. One-third of its research relates to
HIVHuman immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
and
AIDSAcquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
; its other major program areas are
reproductive healthWithin the framework of the World Health Organization's definition of health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, reproductive health, or sexual health/hygiene, addresses the reproductive processes, functions and system...
and poverty, youth, and gender. It held the license for
NorplantNorplant 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...
contraceptive implant, and now holds the license for Mirena
intrauterine systemThe IUD with progestogen, intrauterine system , or IntraUterine Contraceptive is a long-acting reversible hormonal contraceptive device that is placed in the uterus. An IUS has a hormone cylinder that releases a progestin called levonorgestrel...
. 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 III, with important funding from the
Rockefeller Brothers FundThe Rockefeller Brothers Fund , , is an international philanthropic organisation created and run by members of the Rockefeller family. It was set up in New York City in 1940 as the primary philanthropic vehicle of the five famous Rockefeller brothers: John D...
, 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 YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, the Population Council has 18 offices in
AfricaAfrica is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
,
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, and
Latin AmericaLatin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
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
eugenicsEugenics is the "applied science or the bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population", usually referring to human populations. The origins of the concept of eugenics began with certain interpretations of Mendelian inheritance,...
movement. The first president of the Council was a eugenicist appointed by Rockefeller;
Frederick OsbornMajor General Frederick Henry Osborn 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 race- and class-consciousness from earlier periods...
, author of
Preface to Eugenics (New York, 1940), leader of the
American Eugenics SocietyThe American Eugenics Society was a society established in 1922 to promote eugenics in the United States.It was the result of the Second International Conference on Eugenics . The founders included Madison Grant, Harry H. Laughlin, Irving Fisher, Henry Fairfield Osborn, and Henry Crampton...
, and one of the founding members of the
Pioneer FundThe Pioneer Fund is an American non-profit foundation established in 1937 "to advance the scientific study of heredity and human differences." Currently headed by psychology professor J. Philippe Rushton, the fund states that it focuses on projects it perceives will not be easily funded due to...
. 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."
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. 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 planningFamily planning is the planning of when to have children, and the use of birth control and other techniques to implement such plans. Other techniques commonly used include sexuality education, prevention and management of sexually transmitted infections, pre-conception counseling and...
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
IUDA copper IUD is a type of intrauterine device. Most IUDs have a plastic T- or U-shaped frame which is wrapped in copper wire, with the exception of Gynefix, which is a plastic string with several copper beads, affixed to the fundus of the uterus...
,
NorplantNorplant 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...
, Jadelle (Norplant II), and
MirenaThe IUD with progestogen, intrauterine system , or IntraUterine Contraceptive is a long-acting reversible hormonal contraceptive device that is placed in the uterus. An IUS has a hormone cylinder that releases a progestin called levonorgestrel...
. More than 50 million Copper T IUDs have been distributed in over 70 countries. Norplant was replaced by Jadelle.
The British medical journal
LancetThe Lancet is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal. It is one of the world's best known, oldest, and most respected general medical journals...
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."
See also
- Birth control movement in the United States
The birth control movement in the United States was a social reform campaign to make contraception legal in America. The movement began in 1914 when a group of radicals in New York City, led by Emma Goldman, Mary Dennett, and Margaret Sanger, became concerned about the plight of poor women, who...
- Demography
Demography is the statistical study of human population. It can be a very general science that can be applied to any kind of dynamic human population, that is, one that changes over time or space...
- Sustainable development
Sustainable development is a pattern of resource use, that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come...
- Rockefeller family
The Rockefeller family , the Cleveland family of John D. Rockefeller and his brother William Rockefeller , is an American industrial, banking, and political family of German origin that made one of the world's largest private fortunes in the oil business during the late 19th and early 20th...
External links