A major advance
Vaginal ring, drug cut rates of HIV in Africa
A flexible and inexpensive ring that is inserted into the vagina, where it slowly releases an antiviral drug, helped protect African women against contracting HIV from their sexual partners, researchers said Monday in reports on two major studies that included more than 4,500 women.
The protection was not complete: Overall infection rates were reduced by only 27 percent and 31 percent, though women who were over 21 fared better. But researchers said that the device was still a major advance and that the results were the most promising to date in HIV prevention for African women. They said they would press ahead to get the ring approved and widely distributed as quickly as possible.
"The hope was to find something that could be usable enough by women that it would provide HIV protection, and that's what we got," said Dr. Jared Baeten, from the University of Washington, who led one of the studies, called Aspire. "It gives me tremendous optimism."
Globally, about 37 million people are infected with HIV, more than half of them women. The majority live in sub-Saharan Africa.
New York Times