This is an interesting article about a gel that researchers have come up with that might possibly protect women from the infection. It is however safe to use. The gel uses the drug, Viread, sold by Gilead Sciences Inc.
There was a meeting of AIDS researchers in India and involved 200 sexually-active HIV-negative women in the US and India. It is a microbicide (gel or creams) that can be applied vaginally or anally to prevent transmission of HIV that causes AIDS.
There are many other ones that were tested and were unsuccessful like Carraguard, Nonoxynol-9, and Ushercell.
According to the United Nations Agency UNAIDS, 46% of the 33.2 million affected are women.
http://www.thestar.co.za/?fSectionId=&fArticleId=nw20080225104811465C361147
Here is more information on the article. The news is kind of old, but I thought it went well with our class.
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5 comments:
That's really good news for Women in the US or in other western countries. But, what about the women, as WAC3 discussed, who would A: not even know about the gel and B: wouldn’t be allowed to use it because of male or government restrictions. I believe it is great news for us, but it doesn’t really help out countries that ban other types of protection that might alleviate the chance for a woman getting infected. But, the gel is a great step forward in protecting against Aids.
Great post, K, and B, good thoughts too. A thought on the restrictions of use for other women: the benefit of such a gel is that it can potentially be undetectable. So, getting a man to wear a condom might not be an option, but women could still protect themselves from HIV at least.
Obviously there are other hurdles, but just a small thought there.
Brad, I think i agree with Amanda... this whole article is still a far stretch and will take a while to go into effect. But, there are ways to get around legislation in patriarchal societies. Also, the US collaborated with India (still considered semi-third world) to work on this medicine. I believe that AIDS is such a global issue, no country will interfere if a cure was found.
The gel is great! I’m sure that it is going to help out a lot women in the world. I just don’t think that it will be available in countries that really truly need it. It seems to me that it is a fairly new discovery, and I wonder how long it would take to truly affect women in some of the poorer countries in the world. All I’m saying is that rich western pharmaceutical companies might not show that much interest in the gel because the brunt of the disease is faced by women in Africa, who have little money to spend on such a precaution. Maybe I’m thinking a little bit too cynical about this, but companies rarely do anything for the betterment of the little woman or man; most companies are only fuel by how much money they can make off a certain product. But, the gel is great for us and other wealthier nations in the world.
Brad - you're concerns are very valid. In fact, this is the issue with treating TB -- treatment is v. available and effective, but since it no longer effects (to the same extent) people in more developed countries, the costs of the drugs are astronomical.
Certainly class and politics play a serious part in pharmaceuticals.
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