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Effective microbicide promised in four years

    JOHANNESBURG

    An effective microbicide to protect women against HIV may be available by 2010 if current trials prove successful, experts said on Sunday at the start of a four-day forum in Cape Town, South Africa.

    Gita Ramjee, of the South African Medical Research Council, said the gel - known as a microbicide - offered huge potential for women, who accounted for 60 percent of the more than 25 million HIV-positive people in sub-Saharan Africa

    "We have waited 25 years to address the epidemic, so [four years] is really not too much longer to wait," she said during a press conference ahead of the forum.

    Thousands of women are currently enrolled in microbicide trials being conducted globally.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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