HIV researchers congregate in the US

Saturday, 22 May 2010 18:34
ZIMBABWEAN researchers will this week join experts from the rest of the world searching for more effective HIV prevention methods at the International Microbicides Conference in Pittsburgh, United States.

The conference that opens today is one of the biggest gatherings bringing together researchers in a forum to share experiences and new trends on HIV research.
Mike Chirenje, the executive director of the University of Zimbabwe and University of California — San Francisco (UZ-USCF) said the bi-annual indaba was a chance to evaluate progress made in finding new HIV prevention methods in the past few years.
UZ-USCF is a collaborative research in women’s health funded by the National Institute of Health in the US. Last year the initiative released results of its microbicide trials that sought to establish the effectiveness of two gels in reducing HIV infection in women when applied before sex.

One of the microbicide gels under study known as pro-2000 was found to reduce HIV infection in women by at least 30%. One of the researchers who will also be attending the Pittsburgh conference Nyaradzo Mgodi said although this was a breakthrough, it was not enough to ensure the gel was registered for use.
But it would help guide other studies in future, she said. The UZ-USCF has several research networks that include the Microbicides Trials Network (MTN).

“As statistics show, the burden of the disease in women is very, very high,” Mgodi said. “If you look at other proven methods of preventing HIV, for example condoms, you find that most women find it difficult to negotiate for condom use because of the gender disparities, this is a culture in which the man is the dominant partner.
“So what we would like to do as researchers is to develop a chemical in which a woman can use without having to depend on a man to protect herself from HIV infection.

“So this is what has guided research into microbicides; to help women get past these gender disparities.” Another research being conducted by the UZ-UCSF is the Vaginal and Oral Interventions to Control the Epidemic (Voice) that aims to find female controlled preventive measures. At least 600 women are taking part in clinical trials to establish if the same antiretroviral drugs (ARV) used to prolong the lives of people infected with HIV can protect women from being infected.

The study began last year and will run over a three-year period.
Women participants who are HIV negative and are between the ages of 18-35 will be asked to either apply a vaginal microbicide gel containing an ARV or take an oral ARV tablet daily. The ARV drugs Tenofivor and Truvada will be used during the study.

“At the end of the study researchers would want to establish whether or not this pre-exposure prophylaxis will reduce the women’s chances of acquiring HIV,” Mgodi said.
According to the United Nations Joint Programme (UNAIDS), at least 60% of adults living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa are women.

In Zimbabwe, 54% of the 1.2 million HIV positive adults are women. HIV and Aids activists say women are more vulnerable to acquire the infection than men largely because of cultural reasons. The virus was first detected in Zimbabwe in 1985.


BY BERTHA SHOKO