The Queen of Hearts

Are we winning? A look at HIV strategies…

LONDON - Circumcision, microbicides and microfinance. These are some of the most promising options being examined as potential ways to prevent AIDS.

As World AIDS Day is marked today, some public health experts are saying the current focus on universal access to lifesaving antiretroviral drugs has had an unintended effect: sidelining prevention. Without a vaccine, preventing HIV infections is key to controlling the pandemic.

Rates of HIV infection continue to grow, with 4 million new cases worldwide every year. The battle continues to be waged even in countries that were previously models of control. Due to erratic condom use and the virus’ spread into new populations, like married women, HIV has made a worrying return to countries such as Thailand and Uganda.

Microbicides under study or development include a vaginal gel that could help women protect themselves against HIV in countries where men are notoriously reluctant to use condoms, and substances that enhance natural vaginal defense mechanisms by maintaining an acidic pH, killing pathogens by stripping them of their outer covering or preventing replication of the virus after it has entered the cell.

Preliminary trials in South Africa last year showed circumcised men were 60 percent less likely than uncircumcised men to become infected from female partners. New data from trials in Uganda and Kenya are due in mid-December from the National Institutes of Health in the United States, the trials’ sponsor.

Source: AP via MSNBC

posted by Queen of Hearts @ 06:30