Science to give women new tool against AIDS
Jun 27, 2005
NEW HIV prevention treatments for women may be available as early as 2009, a top researcher said recently.
NEW HIV prevention treatments for women may be available as early as 2009, a top researcher said recently.
Microbicides, which women might be able to use in gel or cream form to shield themselves from HIV infection, hold some of the best promise for fighting a disease which continues to defy efforts to create a vaccine, said Salim Abdool Karim of South Africa’s University of KwaZulu-Natal at an AIDS conference in Durban.
UN estimates show 60% of almost 30 million people living with HIV or AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa are women. Even female condoms, introduced in an effort to give women more control over their sexual health, have proven less than completely effective as men may refuse to have sex with a woman who is wearing one, Karim said.
Microbicides, which either kill the HIV virus in the vagina, block it from infecting other cells or prevent it from multiplying, could be an important tool, he said.
South Africa has the world’s biggest single HIV/AIDS caseload with over five million of its 45 million people infected.
Karim said initial results from some of the latest and most promising microbicide human trials could be available by early 2008.
AIDS experts estimate microbicides, some of which have names such as “invisible condomâ€, could prevent 2.5 million deaths from AIDS over three years.
Karim said microbicides could protect women from HIV over a period of days or could be applied after sex as a kind of “morning after pill†to prevent infection.
Microbicide research is complicated because no animal testing can exactly replicate the effects of human treatment.
Karim said another major obstacle was the lack of involvement by major pharmaceutical companies. Most microbicide projects are being undertaken by small bio-technology companies, often funded only through donations from groups such as the US National Institutes of Health and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
“If we were working on a microbicide for men, I am sure we would have every big pharmaceutical company involved,†he said.
Reuters
Microbicides, which women might be able to use in gel or cream form to shield themselves from HIV infection, hold some of the best promise for fighting a disease which continues to defy efforts to create a vaccine, said Salim Abdool Karim of South Africa’s University of KwaZulu-Natal at an AIDS conference in Durban.
UN estimates show 60% of almost 30 million people living with HIV or AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa are women. Even female condoms, introduced in an effort to give women more control over their sexual health, have proven less than completely effective as men may refuse to have sex with a woman who is wearing one, Karim said.
Microbicides, which either kill the HIV virus in the vagina, block it from infecting other cells or prevent it from multiplying, could be an important tool, he said.
South Africa has the world’s biggest single HIV/AIDS caseload with over five million of its 45 million people infected.
Karim said initial results from some of the latest and most promising microbicide human trials could be available by early 2008.
AIDS experts estimate microbicides, some of which have names such as “invisible condomâ€, could prevent 2.5 million deaths from AIDS over three years.
Karim said microbicides could protect women from HIV over a period of days or could be applied after sex as a kind of “morning after pill†to prevent infection.
Microbicide research is complicated because no animal testing can exactly replicate the effects of human treatment.
Karim said another major obstacle was the lack of involvement by major pharmaceutical companies. Most microbicide projects are being undertaken by small bio-technology companies, often funded only through donations from groups such as the US National Institutes of Health and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
“If we were working on a microbicide for men, I am sure we would have every big pharmaceutical company involved,†he said.
Reuters