African women are often victimized by HIV-positive men who insist on having sex without using condoms. There is, however, a set of encouraging results in South Africa from a trial of a vaginal microbicidal gel called tenofovir that at least reduces the risk of transmission if a woman use the gel immediately before and after intercourse. Still, these are early days and the risk reduction is only 39% (although it is 54% for the most dedicated users) compared to women using a placebo.
This ties into a story from CNN recently during the World Cup about rape... and one woman's rather interesting solution.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/06/20/south.africa.female.condom/index.html