Date: 2008-11-12
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GPs, family planning workers and women's health researchers will gather for a key conference taking place on Friday (November 14) to mark the 40th anniversary of the Royal College of General Practitioners Oral Contraception Study. In 1968/69 1400 GPs from all over the UK recruited 46,000 women onto this study which set out to investigate the health benefits of oral contraception which had been introduced to Britain eight years earlier. Half of the women on the study were on the pill and half were not.
(Media-Newswire.com) - GPs, family planning workers and women's health researchers will gather for a key conference taking place on Friday (November 14) to mark the 40th anniversary of the Royal College of General Practitioners Oral Contraception Study.
In 1968/69 1400 GPs from all over the UK recruited 46,000 women onto this study which set out to investigate the health benefits of oral contraception which had been introduced to Britain eight years earlier. Half of the women on the study were on the pill and half were not.
The study began in Manchester but has been led by Professor Phil Hannaford at the University of Aberdeen since 1997. More than half of the original cohort of women is still being followed-up.
Over the years study results have been published in more than 130 scientific papers, generating crucial information for policymakers and GPs all over the world.
One of the study findings which made international headlines was last year's announcement of research led by Professor Hannaford which found that the pill does not increase a woman's chances of developing cancer; indeed it may even reduce the risk for many women.
Other important findings include:
Pregnant women with pre-eclampsia are at an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease in later life
Being the first to show a woman's risk of stroke or heart disease whilst using the pill is much higher in older women and among smokers
Evidence about the long-term safety of sterilisation and hysterectomy
Friday's conference at the University of Aberdeen's King's College Centre is a celebration of the past four decades.
Speakers include Dr Clifford Kay, former Director of the Royal College of General Practitioners Manchester Research Unit, who originally founded the study.
Internationally renowned epidemiologist Professor Valerie Beral from the University of Oxford and an honorary graduate of the University of Aberdeen will also give a talk.
Professor Hannaford said: "It is an honour for the University of Aberdeen to be at the helm of such a prestigious study which is assessing the safety of a method of contraception that is used every day by more than 100 million women around the world.
"Our conference is a celebration of the Royal College of General Practitioners Oral Contraception Study. It will look at its history and reflect on some of its key findings.
"We will also look at how research and contraceptive practice has changed over the past 40 years.
"We will also outline where the study is going and why it continues to have an extremely exciting and dynamic future. For example, we have recently been given permission to link, in an anonymous way, our data to any hospital admissions experienced by women recruited for the study. This will enable us to look at a number of issues related to women's health, not just the safety of the pill."
Friday's conference takes place between 10am and 3.45pm and is open to academics, PhD students, women's health workers, doctors and anyone else with an interest in this field. Anyone wishing to attend should email Margaret Ross on m.a.ross@abdn.ac.uk or ring 01224 559456.