Combination of approaches needed in HIV battle

Halting the spread of HIV/Aids will require medical, behavioural and governmental changes, it has been claimed.

The suggestion was made by Dr Paul Feldblum and Dr Willard Cates of Family Health International after new research concluded that Carraguard microbicidal gel does little to help prevent male to female transmission of HIV.

Medical authorities are keen to find a female-controlled HIV prevention technique, but a study by the Population Council, published in the Lancet, suggested Carraguard is not it.

The researchers found little evidence that the gel had anything other than a very minor protective effect.

Commenting on the results, Dr Feldblum and Dr Cates said: "No single approach to prevention will suffice. Rather a combination of partly effective prevention approaches will be bundled into packages targeted to specific populations."

This combination of "behavioural, biomedical, and structural interventions" is the only realistic hope of combating the spread of HIV, they added.

Speaking on World Aids Day earlier this week, George Bush paid tribute to the work of the Presidential Emergency Plan for Aids Relief, which has provided treatment for more than ten million people around the world in the past four years.

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