Times Live Blog: Promising results in blocking HIV during first days of infection: M2010
New Vision: Ugandan researchers at HIV conference in America
By Hilary Bainemigisha (The New Vision) 24 May 2010: Over 30 Ugandan researchers and experts are in the US for the international conference that opened in Pittsburgh on Saturday.
HIV prevention researchers, policy makers and community advocates from more than 35 countries are meeting to discuss microbicides and other HIV prevention methods, like male circumcision, taking ARVs before exposure and vaccination.
The conference attracted over 1,000 participants, including the Ugandan delegation of 36 researchers, 16 of who are scheduled to discuss their findings on HIV prevention studies.
Ten posters on HIV preventive studies done in Masaka, Masindi, Nakasongola, Kampala, and Rakai districts will be displayed.
Microbicides are substances designed to prevent sexual transmission of HIV when applied inside the vagina or rectum. They include gels, vaginal rings and films.
The meeting, dubbed M2010, is the sixth International Microbicides
Conference.
During the opening, The New York Times report about Uganda’s failing
anti-HIV strategies was displayed and referred to.
The article reported that for every 100 people put on antiretroviral treatment, 250 are infected.
“Donors are questioning whether it is sustainable to continue the roll out of treatment across the globe” Prof. Robin Shattock of Cellular and Molecular Infection at St George University, London said.
“We cannot treat ourselves out of the epidemic. So, we must invest in preventive technologies.”
According to UNAIDS, more than 33 million people are living with HIV, most of them in sub-Saharan Africa.
Globally, women account for half the number, and in sub-Saharan Africa, they comprise 60% of infected adults.#