A safe and
effective gel allowing women to protect themselves from HIV
may be available by 2010 if current trials involving
thousands of women are successful, researchers said
Sunday. Gita Ramjee, director of the HIV prevention
research unit at South Africa's Medical Research
Council, said microbe-killing vaginal gels offer huge
potential for stemming the epidemic, especially in
societies where men are reluctant to use a condom.
Ramjee said that five separate clinical trials are under way
involving 12,000 people in South Africa and thousands in
other countries. Results should be ready in the next
two years, she said.
"We have
waited 25 years to address the epidemic, so 2008 is really
not too much longer to wait," she told a press
conference before an international conference on
microbicides. She said that if governments
fast-tracked the regulatory approval process, the gels might
be on the market by 2010--although she cautioned
this is the earliest anticipated date.
The conference,
cosponsored by the World Health Organization, brings
together more than 1,000 scientists and researchers from
around the world.
HIV infection is
rising more rapidly among women than men in many parts
of the world. Half of all adults living with HIV are female,
according to United Nations figures. In sub-Saharan
Africa, home to more than 25 million of the nearly 40
million people infected around the world, women
account for nearly 60% of infections, with most acquired
through heterosexual intercourse. Yet strong taboos
still exist on the continent against the use of
condoms.
The London School
of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has calculated that a
microbicide that is 60% effective against HIV and used by
only 20% of women in 73 developing countries over
three years could prevent 2.5 million infections.
Microbicides can
take the form of a gel, cream, sponge, or ring that
releases an ingredient that can kill or deactivate HIV
during intercourse.
Although studies
to date have focused on preventing HIV infections in
females through heterosexual intercourse, many scientists
believe microbicides also may offer some protection
against HIV for gay men who engage in anal sex,
particularly when used in conjunction with condoms.
Coinciding with
the start of the conference, South African AIDS activists
launched a new campaign to try to prevent 2 million new HIV
infections by 2010.
The Treatment
Action Campaign, which until now has focused on improving
access to medication, said it would press the government to
provide more condoms and improve sex education.
"There is
a crisis of prevention in this country," said Zackie
Achmat, president of the campaign. "There are
1,400 new infections every day. That must
stop."
Up to 6 million
South Africans are infected with HIV, the highest number
of any country. It is projected that 2.5 million more may
become infected by 2010. (AP, with additional
reporting by The Advocate)