Since it was discovered a couple of decades ago, the human immunodeficiency virus (H.I.V) has been a grievous health concern. The global scourge is characterized by impaired immune system, devoid of a cure and had infected millions of people. Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) published at the end of 2014, says about “36.9 million people are living with HIV globally. Moreover, some 2 million people became newly infected, and 1.2 million died of HIV-related causes.” This is not in favor of women—more than half of the population infected are women living in sub-Saharan Africa.

However, in the absence of a cure, experts have developed antiretroviral (ART) drugs that can slow the progression of HIV in the body with good and continued adherence. It is also important to note that three earlier H.I.V. prevention studies in African women failed, largely because participants did not consistently use the methods offered, which included antiviral pills and microbicidal vaginal gels.
Undaunted by previous failed attempts and drawing financial inspiration from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), two studies named the ASPIRE study and the Ring Study, were conducted in a bid to, in the words of Dr. Jared M. Baeten, from the University of Washington, who led one of the studies, “find something that could be usable enough by women that would provide H.I.V. protection.”

In the studies, a flexible $5 ring, 2.5 inches in diameter and made of silicone—a heat-resistant silicon-based synthetic substance which the study participants chose to describe with the phrase “set it and forget it” is inserted into the vagina, where it slowly releases an antiviral drug—dapivirine, and helped protect African women against contracting H.I.V from their sexual partners according a report published on Monday 22/02/16 in The New England Journal of Medicine.
One reason previous clinical trials among African women were not effective in the past was low adherence. Experts believe that effectiveness is rooted in the use of a longer-acting methods of delivery—an aim the vaginal ring is designed to achieve via simplification of ARV use and prevention of HIV type 1 (HIV-1).

The vaginal ring is easy to use—a woman can insert the ring herself, does not need to be refrigerated and has a shelf life of five years. It also releases the drug dapivirine—a non-nucleoside HIV-1 reverse-transcriptase inhibitor that has activity against a broad range of HIV-1 subtypes. Part of its appeal and its effectiveness is that women do not have to ask for their partners’ permission to use it. Upon insertion, it is left in the vagina for a month and then replaced. During the period of use, neither she nor her partner can feel it and she does not even have to tell him about it.

Considering the fact that HIV infection has made life miserable for some 37 million people globally speaking; the researchers would have loved a higher efficacy outcome. But that’s not exactly the case; the New York Times publication says “the protection was not complete: Overall infection rates were reduced by only 27 percent and 31 percent, though women who were over 21 fared better”. However, researchers believe that the device was still a major advance and that the results were the most promising to date in H.I.V prevention for African women. The leader of the Aspire Study was quoted as saying “It (the study result) gives me tremendous optimism.”
You might want to read the full article-the link is below:
http://zemellive.com/h-i-v-prevention-a-ring-of-hope/

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