The dreaded Human Imuno Deficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) are still troubling several countries in Africa despite the concentration of intensive efforts against the ailments. Well, medical experts are coming up with various techniques on how to fight the menace especially among women in the continent. One of these emerging strategies is the use of Vaginal Ring to prevent infection.
A vaginal ring is a contraceptive ring which sits inside the vagina. It contains two hormones, oestrogen and progestogen and stops ovaries from releasing an egg each month, according to familyplanning.org. The vaginal ring is inserted into the vagina on the first day of a woman’s menstrual cycle and stays in place for three weeks in a row and is then removed while the woman has her period. A new ring is inserted on the first day of the next menstrual cycle, A vaginal ring is a contraceptive ring which sits inside the vagina. It contains two hormones, oestrogen and progestogen and stops ovaries from releasing an egg each month. The vaginal ring is inserted into the vagina on the first day of a woman’s menstrual cycle and stays in place for three weeks in a row and is then removed while the woman has her period. A new ring is inserted on the first day of the next menstrual cycle.
Research findings have shown that the virginal ring can reduce risk of HIV/AIDS infection, though there is need to combine the ring with other measures to ensure complete success against the disease. Read this interesting piece about studies done on the virginal ring to know what it is and how it works.



This vaginal ring can safely reduce the risk of HIV in women, trial shows

A vaginal ring that dispenses an HIV-preventative drug blocked about a quarter of HIV infections in a trial involving 2,600 women in Africa, according to a report published in The New England Journal of Medicine. When the numbers were broken down by age, researchers found that the monthly ring blocked more than half of HIV infections among HIV-negative women over the age of 21 who used the ring most consistently.

Given that the vaginal ring can be replaced once a month and doesn’t require a partner’s cooperation — unlike the condom — that’s encouraging news. This is the first study to show that a device that involves the sustained release of an HIV medication can work to block the virus in women, the researchers say.

“This ring could provide a prevention option that a woman can use discretely and which is under her control — which is incredibly empowering,” says Jared Baeten, an epidemiologist at the University of Washington and a co-author of the study.

Of the 35 million people living with HIV today, women make up more than half. And in some parts of Africa, one in four or even one in three women has HIV, Baeten says. Unfortunately, women don’t always have the social capital to impose common STD preventatives, like condoms, on male sexual partners. That’s why researchers have been working on HIV-prevention methods that women can use on their own. But trials involving the use of anti-HIV medicines in women haven’t always been successful.
In 2015, for instance, researchers announced that a trial for PrEP — also known as the HIV prevention pill — was a dud because most women didn’t take their daily doses. This may have occurred because participants didn’t know if they were taking a drug or a placebo, researchers suggested at the time. And that does appear to have had an impact; a second trial in Botswana showed that women were more likely to take the pill when they knew it contained medicine. Still, these trials suggest that perhaps a method that doesn’t require taking a drug every day could be more effective. And that’s why today’s study stands out. Even though the women in this trial didn’t know if they had been given a placebo ring, the researchers noted a reduction in the risk of HIV infection among the women who were given the anti-HIV ring.
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