The discovery of an antiviral vaginal gel that can reduce HIV
infection by around 50 per cent is good news, however qualified.
More research is needed: the current clinical trial, in Durban,
tested just 889 women. But the virtue of the gel is that it
gives some autonomy to women, reducing their chance of
contracting the virus when male partners refuse to use a condom.
In South Africa, a third of all women between 20 and 34 are
thought to be HIV-positive, and they account for some 60 per
cent of new infections. The gel contains an antiviral drug that
interferes with a key enzyme involved in viral replication,
unlike previous efforts which tried either to inhibit the entry
of the virus into cells or kill the virus (or infected cells)
directly. It should be very cheap per