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Researchers working to develop microbicides, which could give women a means of
protecting themselves against sexually transmitted diseases, are soliciting women's views
to help ensure that the new technology will meet their needs.
Women will be involved in many aspects of microbicide development, including the
implementation of clinical trials, and introduction of the method into family planning and
reproductive health programs. Researchers estimate it will be seven to 10 years before a
microbicide product is approved for widespread use.
Microbicides may offer a non-contraceptive female-controlled barrier method to protect
against AIDS and HIV infection by blocking STD bacteria or viruses. It might be contained
in a gel or film that is inserted into the vagina, much like available spermicides. A
modified formulation might offer contraceptive protection as well.
"Traditionally contraceptive development has been biomedically driven -- driven by
scientific discoveries," says Christa Coggins, staff associate with the Population
Council. The microbicides research, however, is seeking women's perspectives to guide
research, before discoveries are made. The Population Council is working collaboratively
with the U.S.-based International Women's Health Coalition (IWHC) and The Pacific
Institute for Women's Health.
A meeting of women's health advocates and scientists was held in 1994, and women's groups
will be involved in later stages. "Involving women's health advocates in clinical
trials benefits both the study participants and the scientists," says Amparo Claro,
coordinator of the Latin American and Caribbean Women's Health Network in Chile, and one
of the health advocates working with the Population Council. By working with scientists in
clinical trial sites, "women's health advocates can establish open and meaningful
communication with the study participants, which would provide, for the scientists, more
accurate and complete reactions to the product."1
The Population Council plans Phase I clinical trials of a noncontraceptive microbicide in
the United States, Finland, Chile, Australia, and the Dominican Republic, says Coggins. A
second study, which will use focus groups and interviews to determine women's preferences
for microbicide formulation -- in film, vaginal inserts or gel -- will be conducted in
Côte d'Ivoire, Zimbabwe, Thailand and the United States, she says.
-- Barbara Barnett
Footnote
- Partnership for Prevention: A Report of a Meeting
Between Women's Health Advocates, Program Planners and Scientists. New York: The
Population Council, 1994.
For more information, visit Family Health International's Website at www.fhi.org
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