A major trial of a new gel that scientists hoped would reduce the risk of HIV infection in women has produced disappointing results, showing that it did not significantly reduce infection rates.
The trial saw 9,385 women in four African countries given either the vaginal microbicide or a placebo gel. Previously a smaller trial had suggested that the gel could reduce the risk of catching the disease by up to 30%.
However the Microbicides Development Agency, a not-for-profit partnership of 16 African and European research agencies, failed to show the gel was any kind of effective protection. As the trial was so large, the results can be considered conclusive.
The results will be a huge disappointment for HIV workers in Africa, where infections rates amongst women are extremely high. In sub-Saharan Africa, women are the most badly affected by the AIDS epidemic, with 60% of those infected believed to be female.
Women in Africa are at particularly risk of infection as they are frequently forced to take part in unsafe sex, as well as being biologically more vulnerable to infection than men. It had been hoped that a gel the women could apply themselves could offer them much needed protection, even if they could not convince their partners to use a condom.
Though the gel did not work, the women who took part in the study were given free condoms and access to counselling about safe sex.
The lead researcher on the study, Dr. Sheen McCormack, described the results as ‘disheartening’ but said that the trial itself showed the importance of large trials that offered definitive results about the efficacy of a product.
As experts faced with the huge AIDS infection rates in Africa and Asia admit that condoms alone have not managed to halt the spread of the virus, scientists will continue to search for a vaccine and other ways of preventing its transmission.