Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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New Vision (Kampala) - September 9, 2003
Charles Wendo
The cream is simply squeezed into the vagina to prevent HIV transmission. The microbicide code-named PRO 2000, is being evaluated by the British Medical Research Council research project in Uganda, in collaboration with Nsambya Hospital. Drs Pius Okong and Romeo Byaruhanga, senior gynaecologists at Nsambya are the site principal investigators.
The trial clinical, Dr. Michael Bukenya, said they were testing the microbicide for safety and acceptability and not whether it prevents sexual HIV infection.
The trial which started in June, is the second phase of a series of experiments which normally take years.
It follows a successful first phase trial, done on 20 women. The third phase trials, to determine whether the microbicide indeed prevents sexual HIV infection, may be done later on thousands of women if it passes the ongoing phase 2 trials.
"We talked to many women and explained to them. Those who were willing came to our clinic and we screened them," Bukenya said.
He said the women, who come mostly from the communities around Nsambya Hospital, are given tubes of the microbicide to squeeze into the vagina twice a day for four weeks.
They will be monitored for eight weeks. Safety will be determined by examining the vagina daily while for acceptability the women will be interviewed. "In African settings it is not within a woman's means to make a man use a condom. A microbicide is something she can use without a man knowing. You can even apply it three hours before sex," Bukenya said.
He said they started the trial only after getting Government approval.
Another microbicide is being tested at Mulago.
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