CONTRACEPTIVE TECHNOLOGY UPDATE: MICROBICIDES

CONTRACEPTIVE TECHNOLOGY UPDATE: MICROBICIDES
I came to the issue of microbicide research through my work on violence against women. As I listened to the frustrations of women and HIV prevention workers, it became increasingly clear to me that condoms simply were not an option for many women. Women told stories of being ridiculed, abandoned, or beaten for raising the issue of condom use with their partners. Others were afraid even to ask. It wasn't always violence they feared, however, but also the prospect of losing a relationship that was emotionally and/or economically important.
---Lori Heise, Co-Director
Health and Development Policy Project
Washington, D.C. (Critical Issues in Reproductive Health and Population, p.6)

HIV/AIDS AND STDS: WOMEN'S ISSUES

Thirteen million women worldwide will be infected with the HIV virus by the year 2,000, out of a world-wide total of 40 million. The risk of contracting HIV increases three to five times when STDs are present, and each year 330 million new cases of STDs occur world-wide.

STDS are far more damaging to women than they are to men, and are more easily transmitted from men to women than they are from women to men.

One in four American teenagers contracts an STD before graduating from high school. Only half of all American teenagers use condoms consistently, and less than 10% receive sexuality education.

As the global HIV/AIDS and STD epidemics continue to spread, scientists and policymakers alike have come to recognize the vulnerability of women to these diseases, due to biological, social, cultural and economic factors. Women's health advocates agree that prevention that focuses on condom usage alone will not save the lives of many of the world's women.

MICROBICIDES: A PROMISING NEW TECHNOLOGY
Scientists have begun researching microbicides --- chemical products that could help to reduce the risk of HIV/AIDS and STD transmission when inserted intra-vaginally. It is hoped that microbicidal products could also protect women from a range of other STDs. Microbicides could work where condoms often do not, by increasing a woman's power to protect herself from disease, thereby reducing dependence on both health care providers and sexual partners.
Although microbicidal products would work best to prevent disease in conjunction with a condom, they could also be used alone, or with other methods of contraception. It is hoped that microbicides could also protect a woman from disease while leaving the man's sperm intact, so that she could still conceive if desired.

WHAM
Women's Health Advocates on Microbicides (WHAM) is a group of 11 women from 8 countries seeking to ensure that the scientific community's commitment to microbicide research results in the availability of safe, effective vaginal products that meet women's needs. WHAM members are creating a new approach to contraceptive research and development --- one that incorporates the perspectives and concerns of both scientists and women's health advocates.
In April, 1997, WHAM and the Population Council held a symposium on Practical and Ethical Dilemmas in the Clinical Testing of Microbicides. The symposium brought together some 50 scientists, women's health advocates, policymakers, and industry people from the U.S., Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America. Through encouraging dialogue among these diverse actors, the organizers hope to add new voices and views to a discussion that frequently takes place only among clinical scientists. The goals are to understand women's needs and perspectives, address the practical issues that investigators will face in the field, and to make recommendations for the clinical testing of new microbicidal products. A report on the meeting will be published and circulated.

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