HIV prevention was not achieved in a trial testing the effectiveness of a vaginal gel to stop the spread of the disease through heterosexual sex, according to the federal government.
The clinical trial was cancelled after the gel, called tenofovir, was shown to be ineffective at keeping women from getting HIV.
Researchers analyzed data from thousands of women in Africa, and the results showed that HIV was about as common in women using tenofovir as women using a placebo gel. These results stray from previous findings in other studies indicating that the gel was effective in prevention the infection. These results are disappointing for researchers, who had prioritized an HIV-blocking gel so that women could use it in secret if they were afraid of being hurt by their partners who refused to use a condom. Medscape reports that over 50 percent of all new HIV infections around the world occur in women through heterosexual sex with a partner who has HIV.
According to the New York Times, researchers hypothesize that the ineffectiveness of the gel could be due to the women not using the gel correctly or at the right scheduling doses. Another possibility is that the gel led to infections caused by inflammation. Tenofovir is still believed to be effective against HIV and AIDS, even though the discontinuation of the current trial is a setback.
