A new way for women to nip HIV infection in the bud
Right now, there are more than 30 HIV-fighting vaginal gels and creams in development and about a dozen in clinical trials involving more than 25,000 women worldwide. Called microbicides, these new prevention tools give women control of the action. Microbicides work in various ways, some forming a physical barrier to the virus and others killing it outright. Gita Ramjee, PhD, an HIV prevention expert at the South African Medical Research Council, estimates that the first microbicides could be available by 2010—long before an HIV vaccine. Look out for BufferGel, Carraguard and Savvy; they’ll likely be first out of the pipeline.
