Viread HIV-prevention trial begins next month in Thailand

A three-year clinical trial evaluating the effectiveness of the anti-HIV drug Viread in preventing HIV infections among high-risk groups is set to begin next month in Thailand, the Bangkok Post reports. The clinical trial, funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and approved by Thailand's health ministry, will include about 1,600 volunteers, including injection-drug users and others deemed at high risk for HIV infection. Researchers will evaluate whether daily doses of Viread are effective in preventing HIV infections among the study subjects. Similar clinical trials are under way in the United States, Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Malawi. The U.S. trials include sexually active gay and bisexual men in San Francisco and Atlanta. The Cameroon trial was temporarily suspended last month after AIDS activists claimed that the female sex workers recruited for the study were not being given adequate HIV prevention counseling and did not fully understand the consent forms they signed for the study. After being reassured by trial funders that the trial adhered to ethical standards, Cameroon health officials agreed to allow it to continue. A similar clinic trial involving Cambodian sex workers was canceled by Prime Minister Hun Sen in August 2004 because of the possible effects of the drug on trial participants.