London, Dec 14 (Inditop.com) British medical trials in Africa have shown a promising anti-HIV gel to be ineffective, dashing hopes for a cheap way to prevent the AIDS pandemic, a newspaper reported Monday.
Microbicides in the form of a vaginal gel or cream have long been held up as a cost-effective way for women to protect themselves, particularly where men refuse to use condoms.
But four years of trials backed by Britain’s Medical Research Council (MRC) and ministry of international development have shown that the PRO 2000 gel does not prevent HIV transmission, The Guardian reported.
The trials involved nearly more than 9,000 women in four African countries.
Dr Sheena McCormack of the MRC, chief investigator of the trial, said researchers were deeply disappointed, but that the search must go on.
Expectations were raised in March when a smaller US-led trial of PRO 2000, involving just over 3,000 women, found a 30 percent reduction in infections.
“In a big trial you get closer to the truth, and unfortunately the truth is it didn’t work. It is bitterly disappointing for us, but it will inform the way we go forward,” McCormack told the paper.
However, the African trials showed that both men and women found it acceptable to use a microbicide.
About 2.7 million people were infected with HIV last year, the majority of them in Africa.
