Microbicide shows HIV prevention promise

A clinical trial has found that a vaginal microbicide gel is showing potential as a way of preventing HIV in women.

The study, which involved more than 3,000 women in Africa and the US, was conducted by the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections.

If found that one 0.5 per cent dose of a possible HIV preventing microbicide was 30 per cent effective.

However, Salim S. Abdool Karim, professor of clinical Epidemiology at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, said that more testing needed to be done.

"These findings provide the first signal that a microbicide gel may be able to prevent women from HIV infection," she stated.

"Indeed, for the millions of women at risk for HIV, especially young women in Africa, there is now a glimmer of hope. But these findings also indicate that more research is needed; we can't yet say that we have an effective microbicide."

The Microbicides Trial Network was also involved in the research.

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