National Meet on new HIV prevention options

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Meet on new HIV prevention options

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI SEPT. 28. A two-day national meet of policy makers will consider

the possibilities of developing new methods for prevention of HIV/AIDS that

would be under the direct control of women.

Presently, condom is the only preventive method available and it is under

the control of men.

The meet, to be attended by experts from the National AIDS Control

Organisation, Indian Council of Medical Research and other related agencies,

would focus on developing creams, gels and other products based on

microbicides, which would specifically target the HIV virus.

Currently no such microbicide is available.

But scientists across the world are working on about 60 leads and at least

11 of them have shown some promise, proving to be safe and effective in

tests on animals.

The expectation is that at least one of them would prove to be successful in

human testing and be available for use in about five to seven years.

The meeting, supported by the United States Agency for International

Development, would specially aim at formulating a strategy to ensure that as

and when a safe and effective microbicide is found, it is made available

immediately to women in India and other developing countries.

This is because till now new health technologies rarely become widely

available in developing countries until more than a decade after their

approval in the U.S., and Europe due to high costs and other such factors.

Such a delay could not be allowed particularly in dealing with a disease

like HIV and AIDS.

http://www.hindu.com/2003/09/29/stories/2003092903551300.htm