Anti-HIV gel development delayed by drug company indifference

Profit motive hurting AIDS fight

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) – AIDS is increasingly regarded as a disease of the poor, blunting efforts to develop tools, such as a virus-killing gel, that could save millions of lives, delegates at an international conference said Monday.

Speakers at the conference said development of a microbicide gel that could be used by women to prevent the spread of the virus was slow, in part because products likely to be used by poor women in developing countries do not attract the interest of large drug companies.

They emphasized that the real turning point in the epidemic may only come when women – who bear the brunt of the disease in the worst-hit African countries – are finally given the power to protect themselves without having to rely on men using a condom.

What was that about gender equality leading to healthier sex lives and happier women, which leads to healthier families, which makes for healthier societies?

We have a long way to come, baby.