01/03/07

HIV research needs a consultation forum

The HIV virus Copyright: www.scottcamazine.com

We encourage you to republish this article online and in print, it’s free under our creative commons attribution license, but please follow some simple guidelines:

You have to credit our authors.
You have to credit SciDev.Net — where possible include our logo with a link back to the original article.
You can simply run the first few lines of the article and then add: “Read the full article on SciDev.Net” containing a link back to the original article.
If you want to also take images published in this story you will need to confirm with the original source if you're licensed to use them.
The easiest way to get the article on your site is to embed the code below.

For more information view our media page and republishing guidelines.

The full article is available here as HTML.

Press Ctrl-C to copy

<div class="article-wrap">
<div id="article-introduction">
<h1>HIV research needs a consultation forum</h1>
<h4></h4>
</div>
<br />
<br />

<div id="article-body">
<p><P>Last month, the clinical trial for a cellulose sulphate vaginal gel ― designed to protect women from HIV infection ― became the third large-scale microbicide trial to be halted over safety concerns.</P><br />
<P>This well-publicised pattern of failures risks losing the public’s confidence, warns this Nature editorial.</P><br />
<P>Microbicide research needs a consultative body and appropriate systems for choosing which treatments to put through the testing process, instead of blindly pushing through products that have performed poorly in animal trials.</P><br />
<P>And there is a wider need for cross-disciplinary dialogue on HIV/AIDS intervention strategies.</P><br />
<P>The establishment of a forum would help address these unresolved problems, including whether to counsel trial participants and how to ensure that successful interventions are available where they are most needed.</P><br />
<P>This would hopefully make AIDS prevention research more actively and carefully coordinated.</P><a  href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v446/n7131/full/446001a.html" target="_blank" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/tracking/external/'+this.href);" rel="noopener noreferrer">Link to the full article in Nature</A><BR><BR></p>

</div>
<div class="quick-links-wrapper">
<h3>You might also like</h3>
[related-articles]
</div>
<p>This article was originally published on <a href="https://www.scidev.net" target="_blank">SciDev.Net</a>. Read the <a href="https://www.scidev.net/asia-pacific/opinions/hiv-research-needs-a-consultation-forum-seaap/" target="_blank">original article</a>.</p>
<script type="text/javascript">
(function(e,t,n,r,i,s,o){e["GoogleAnalyticsObject"]=i;e[i]=e[i]||function(){(e[i].q=e[i].q||[]).push(arguments)},e[i].l=1*new Date;s=t.createElement(n),o=t.getElementsByTagName(n)[0];s.async=1;s.src=r;o.parentNode.insertBefore(s,o)})(window,document,"script","//www.google-analytics.com/ga.js","ga");var _gaq=_gaq||[];var _gaq=_gaq||[];_gaq.push(["_setAccount","UA-3223906-8"],["_trackEvent","article interaction","republished","https://www.scidev.net/asia-pacific/opinions/hiv-research-needs-a-consultation-forum-seaap/",null,true])
</script>
</div>

Last month, the clinical trial for a cellulose sulphate vaginal gel ― designed to protect women from HIV infection ― became the third large-scale microbicide trial to be halted over safety concerns.

This well-publicised pattern of failures risks losing the public’s confidence, warns this Nature editorial.

Microbicide research needs a consultative body and appropriate systems for choosing which treatments to put through the testing process, instead of blindly pushing through products that have performed poorly in animal trials.

And there is a wider need for cross-disciplinary dialogue on HIV/AIDS intervention strategies.

The establishment of a forum would help address these unresolved problems, including whether to counsel trial participants and how to ensure that successful interventions are available where they are most needed.

This would hopefully make AIDS prevention research more actively and carefully coordinated.

Link to the full article in Nature