Study yields promising results for AIDS gel
The International AIDS conference is underway right now in Vienna. Participants are calling for better access to AIDS drugs. Some are also urging women to start using controversial anti-retroviral gel. CNN’s Sasha Herriman reports. It has the potential to save millions of lives. A three-year study of 889 women in South Africa found that using the vaginal gel twelve hours prior to sex cut the overall risk of contracting the HIV virus by 39%. The South African study was carried out by the Center for AIDS Programme of Research in the community of Durban in a remote village. Half of the women had an active gel, half had an inactive gel. They were also given condoms and advice about sexually-transmitted diseases and were tested for HIV monthly. Researchers are feeling positive, but current infection rates still speak for themselves.
According to United Nations’ figures, there are around 33 million people with HIV around the world. 16 million of which are women and 2.7 million are infected each year. The hunt for treatments and a cure is international. In South Africa 33% of women age 20 to 24 live with HIV and overall UN says it is women who are most likely to fall victim to HIV/AIDS. Often it’s tied into women’s traditional low status in some countries, making them unable to negotiate safer sex and condom use.’
More tests need to be done before we know if it’s revolutionary, but for now, the hope this study offers is enough for some.
http://www.kusi.com/home/Study-yields-promising-results-for-AIDS-gel-98939589.html
The International AIDS conference is underway right now in Vienna. Participants are calling for better access to AIDS drugs. Some are also urging women to start using controversial anti-retroviral gel. CNN’s Sasha Herriman reports. It has the potential to save millions of lives. A three-year study of 889 women in South Africa found that using the vaginal gel twelve hours prior to sex cut the overall risk of contracting the HIV virus by 39%. The South African study was carried out by the Center for AIDS Programme of Research in the community of Durban in a remote village. Half of the women had an active gel, half had an inactive gel. They were also given condoms and advice about sexually-transmitted diseases and were tested for HIV monthly. Researchers are feeling positive, but current infection rates still speak for themselves.
According to United Nations’ figures, there are around 33 million people with HIV around the world. 16 million of which are women and 2.7 million are infected each year. The hunt for treatments and a cure is international. In South Africa 33% of women age 20 to 24 live with HIV and overall UN says it is women who are most likely to fall victim to HIV/AIDS. Often it’s tied into women’s traditional low status in some countries, making them unable to negotiate safer sex and condom use.’
More tests need to be done before we know if it’s revolutionary, but for now, the hope this study offers is enough for some.
http://www.kusi.com/home/Study-yields-promising-results-for-AIDS-gel-98939589.html
