The first test of a long-acting vaginal ring loaded with an HIV-preventing drug has begun enrolling women in southern Africa...
The new study is the 15th undertaken by the International Partnership for Microbicides, a nonprofit group in Silver Spring that has helped lead the search for a discreet, woman-controlled means of protection.
"This is the one that is most likely to work," Zeda Rosenberg, the head of the organization, said last week at Women Deliver 2010, an international conference on maternal and child health held in Washington.
Elizabeth Mataka, the United Nations special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, said she was "very excited about the prospect" of a long-acting microbicidal ring. She told reporters that its advantage is that "nobody needs to know, nobody needs to agree" when a woman uses it...
The study is recruiting 280 women and will evaluate the ring's safety through blood tests, pelvic exams and interviews with users. The first women were recruited in South Africa at the end of April; other volunteers will come from three nearby countries.
Whether the ring successfully prevents HIV infection will require a much larger study that won't begin until next year. It will recruit up to 8,000 women in seven countries, will cost about $90 million and is expected to have results in 2015...
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Source:
The Washington Post
Contributed On:
15 June 2010