HIV microbicide study shows positive results

Thursday, July 22, 2010 (Daily Graphic Pg 11)

Story: Lucy Adoma Yeboah, Vienna, Austria
THE relation between the rights of women and HIV assumed a new dimension at the 18th International AIDS conference (AIDS 2010) in the Austrian city of Vienna when the results of a study into an anti-HIV intervention for women, CAPRISA 004 microbicide was released.
The study provided the first data demonstrating the effectiveness of an anti-retroviral-based vaginal microbicide gel in reducing a woman's risk of sexually transmitted infection which included HIV and genital herpes.
The trial is said to have tested the safety and effectiveness of one percent of a substance called tenofovir gel among nearly 900 women in two sites in South Africa.
In the trial that involved nearly 900 South African women, those who received a vaginal gel that contained the anti-HIV drug had a 39 per cent lower chance of becoming infected by the virus than those who received placebo (fake drug).
The study began in May 2007 and enrolled sexually active women between the ages of 18 and 40 who attended clinics in KwaZulu-Natal in south Africa, an area with an extremely high rate of new HIV infection in young females.
Researchers randomly assigned the women to receive either an inert gel or the gel mixed with the anti-HIV drug for 30 days. Participants were asked to insert the gel within 12 hours before and after having sex. They were also provided with condoms and HIV-prevention counselling.
According the report, the women were monitored to ensure that they applied the gel correctly and also used it as required. On average, the women used the gel as advised nearly three-fourth of the time.
"Subject analysis showed that women who used the gel most frequently had the most protection", stated the report.
A researcher, Dr John Moore, who studied a similar viginal microbicide at the WeillCornel Medical College in New York City said "It is a clear-cut result with obvious protection at a meaningful level".
At the plenary session on Monday, the main speaker, Ms Everjoice Win of ActionAid International (Zimbabwe), noted that women had a greater likelihood of being at the receiving end of violent or coercive sexual intercourse adding that the outcome of the study was a significant step toward a tool that puts the power of HIV prevention in women's hands.
She described the magnitude of violence against women and children around the world and drew strong links between violence and HIV.
Ms Win cited examples of the greater likelihood of women being on the receiving end of violent or coercive sexual intercourse and of an HIV-positve woman being the target of domestic violence from partners or family members who blamed or stigmatised her.
For his part, the President of the AIDS 2010 conference, Dr Julio Montaner said "We welcome news of progress on a prevention tool that would give women greater control over their lives".
Dr Montaner who is also the Director of the British Columbia (B.C) Centre for Excellence in HIV and AIDS in Vancouver, Canada added that "empowering women in this way as part of a broader agenda to ensure human right brings us one step closer to the goal of unversal access".
The Local Co-chairman of AIDS 2010, Dr Brigitte Schmied, said "we are reminded today of a strong link between scientific advancement and human rights protections" and went ahead to maintain that science was now poised to give the world another important new tool to help women protect themselves from HIV and save their lives.
Meanwhile a call for human rights as a fundamental component of efforts to prevent new HIV infections pervaded the AIDS 2010 conference as some delegates and human rights activists organised HIV and Human Rights March through the streets of Vienna as part of the event.
Conference participants gave voice to the conference theme: Right Here, Right Now through a number of plenary presentations, sessions, and Global Village and Youth Programme activities.
Part of the activities saw a number of people living with HIV (PLHIVs) who freely talked about their plight and readility shared ideas with others.