Washed It!

For the first time in the bleak history of the AIDS epidemic on the African continent, researchers have identified two new approaches that could blunt the effects of HIV on women: a vaginal gel to block infection, and cash payments to delay sexual activity. Together, experts say, they might finally make headway against a disease that has already killed millions.

The approaches, described in separate findings released Monday at the International AIDS Conference in Vienna, are considered especially important because women have borne the brunt of the epidemic. Men rarely use condoms or other methods that might prevent transmission of the virus, and their wives and partners are generally powerless to convince them to do so. Further, girls and young women are often forced into sexual activity because of their families’ abject poverty.

The more significant finding concerns the efficacy of a vaginal gel, containing a microbicide. The gel could place prevention squarely in the hands of women; unlike with a condom, their partners would not have to consent to its use, and might not even know it is being used. A clinical trial of the gel showed that it could block more than half of new infections if used regularly.

In the other study, researchers found that they could delay sexual activity in girls and young women by supplementing family income with modest amounts of money, as little as a few dollars a month. That delay led to a 60% reduction in HIV infections.