The former head of the Aids control programme of the United Nations (UN-Aids), Peter Piot, was right. 16 years ago, he said in an interview with F. A. Z., he was sure that there would be micro-biocides, used to be on the market as an Aids vaccine. Microbicides are antimicrobial substances that can be used by women is vaginal as a protection against HIV, without their sexual knowledge partners. Already 16 years ago, was also experimented with vaginal rings, four years ago, it was shown by two studies that vaginal rings that release the virus-inhibiting active ingredient Dapivirin, the overall risk of becoming infected with HIV, 35 percent lower. A few days ago, these rings have now from the European medicines Agency (Ema), a positive scientific opinion. Ema recommends their application in developing countries among women of 18 years of age.
Peter-Philipp Schmitt
editor in the Department “Germany and the world”.
F. A. Z.
the International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM) has taken an important hurdle. Founded in 2002, the Non-Profit organization can begin now, together with the world health organisation in southern Africa, the market introduction of your Dapivirin ring, to prepare. Many African countries recognise the opinion of the Ema, which can help to speed up the Checks. IPM is also an application to the American Food and drug authority. Next year women in Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda could be an additional HIV protection available.
the importance of such a protection, is shown also with a view to the Corona pandemic. Among other things, in South Africa, a second pandemic in progress, which had scourged among others, also the President of the country, Cyril Ramaphosa, already in June, the public is now: The number of violent Attacks on women and girls, which is already much higher than in Europe, has achieved in Corona-times new all-time highs. The police statistics recorded in 2019, five rapes per hour in South Africa, every three hours is murdered, a girl or a woman. According to preliminary Figures of the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union in Johannesburg, the number of sexual Assaults, especially in the family and circle of friends during the Corona-lock downs to a 500% increase.
Encouraging study results
the girls and women in Africa often have little opportunity to protect themselves from infection with a venereal disease. Many men reject condoms as a protection, since they are considered to be unmanly and less joy promised, in addition, many men do not want to be under the General suspicion of being infected with HIV. Therefore, your partner can take inside also not easy to anti-retro viral drugs (ARV) as a precaution, so with a Prep against the Virus guard, a pre-exposure prophylaxis, which would be quite possible.
Just because of the vaginal comes in the ring, the – it enables the male sexual partner unnoticed – the controlled release of a drug over longer periods of time. The IPM-Ring with an outer diameter of 56 millimeters and a cross-sectional diameter of 7.7 millimetres, consists of a novel, flexible silicone. In his Matrix of 25 mm are distributed grams of ARV Dapivirin evenly. The Ring releases the drug slowly over a month away – and the directly to the site of a potential infection. Since the ARV is otherwise hardly absorbed from the body, you experience little side effects. Dapivirin has long been used successfully in the fight against HIV and Aids, to prevent mother-to-child Transmission of the Virus at birth.
