3 Sep 2010
JOHANNESBURG — When scientists celebrated the announcement in July that a vaginal microbicide had finally been found that significantly reduced H.I.V. infections in women, there was still a prosaic — though essential — piece of the puzzle missing: money.
Donors have not committed enough money for even one of the two studies needed to confirm a promising South African trial of the microbicide an...
16 Aug 2010
Women leaders in South Africa have hailed the outcome of a microbicide gel study, saying it will help protect women who can’t negotiate safe sex with their partners against HIV infection.
As the country marks Women’s Month, a milestone is being celebrated. The search for a microbicide, which will ultimately afford many women the ability to protect themselves from getting HIV, is showing promisi...
Alan Bernstein and Peter Piot
10 Aug 2010
We need smarter approaches to clinical trials that test more concepts in less time, for less money, while preserving safety, community engagement and ethical guidelines...
Microbicides, vaccines and other new approaches will one day join proven HIV-prevention strategies, including condoms, male circumcision and clean needles. How soon that day comes will depend on whether funders and the scient...
6 Aug 2010
By Patrick Mwai, GCM Fellow, Kenya
In Kenya, the main public transport industry, commonly known as the Matatu Industry, employs thousands of young men as touts, conductors, and drivers--typically called a Matatu crew. On average these young men make about KES 1000 (USD 12) daily wage. With this disposable income, they end up spending their money on illicit alcohol, illicit drugs, and commercial...
Dr. Mabel Bianco. Coordinator of Women ARISE; President of FEIM; and Coordinator of the International AIDS Women’s Caucus
6 Aug 2010
So, the big breakthrough news about a successful microbicides study with its implications for women drew unmatched excitement and praise this year. The Centre for AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa, which conducted the study, announced the results of a scientific breakthrough in the fight against HIV with a vaginal gel (CAPRISA) that significantly reduces a woman's risk of being infected w...
27 Jul 2010
The world buzzed last week with news that an antiretroviral gel can halve the incidence of HIV infection in women (see Nature doi:10.1038/news.2010.363; 2010).
But a quieter buzz could be heard at the International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2010) in Vienna, where the gel results were unveiled. At a special session, included in the programme at the last minute, attendees heard the results of a han...
21 Jul 2010
An antiretroviral microbicide gel can cut HIV infection in women by more than 50% if used consistently...
Six potential microbicides have been tested in 11 large trials over the past 15 years, but the current trial is the first to use an antiretroviral drug...
Quarraisha Abdool Karim at the Centre for the AIDS Program of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA), Durban, and her colleagues tested a...
15 Jun 2010
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 Rosen...
24 May 2010
Professor Robin Shattock, director of the microbicide research programme at St George’s Hospital in London, warned delegates in an opening plenary at the Microbicides 2010 Conference in Pittsburgh yesterday that “we stand at a critical timepoint in microbicide development”.
“There is a recognised need to prioritise and accelerate efficacy testing in clinical trials,” he said, before funders los...
24 May 2010
Pittsburgh, USA – Using antiretrovirals in microbicides as an effective HIV prevention method specifically aimed at women is in the spotlight at the Microbicides 2010 conference currently underway in the United States.
Robin Shattock, who leads a research team at the Centre for infection and Immunity at St George’s University in London, said that numerous prevention studies were investigating t...
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