The groups, Saheli, Forum for Women's Health and International Campaign Against Population Control and Abusive, Hazardous Contraceptives gave the call on Friday. It was partly in protest against the conclusions of an international meet of scientists which discussed reproductive immunology.

The meet, which had been attended by 200 scientists, failed to convince the groups as to the safety of such vaccines or the social and ethical justification for them.

The Forum for Women's Health said in a statement their opposition to the vaccines has been against the very principle of ``treating pregnancy as a disease'' and causing an immune response against it. In medical terms, the potential risks that subjects of human trials of the vaccines have been exposed to range from allergies and hyper-sensitivity to auto-immune disease and permanent infertility, it said.

Almost three decades after the research had begun, the efficacy rate continues to be just 80 per cent while long-term toxicity cannot be ruled out. The effect on pregnant women and children born during or after the trial has not been conclusive, the Forum stated.That they can be used on mass scale, without the knowledge or consent of the people underlines their potential for abuse, the groups pointed out.

Saheli, an NGO in Delhi, released a report on the occasion which talked about the ``obsession of the world'' with population control. The Saheli report stated: ``All over the world a relentless search continues for `appropriate sites within a woman's (or a man's) body which can be targeted by contraceptive vaccines''.

It pointed out that human trials have been conducted without adequate or conclusive animal studies. ``Contrary to all ethical norms of `scientific practice' the interests of science and society have taken precedence over the interests or well-being of trial subjects,'' it noted.

The main criticism of women's interests groups against the vaccines has been that they are ``provider controlled'' besides posing health risks. Researchers have pointed out that they are not ``provider controlled'' as the woman can always decide whether or not to take another shot after its efficacy period of one to two years ends.

The groups said the vaccine approach has to be abandoned while the terms of debate in formulating a population policy needs a rethink.