For women who can not persuade their sex partners to use condoms to prevent infection of HIV, microbicides may give them a new hope to stay away from the deadly disease, according to an international conference ongoing in Cape Town, South Africa.

Microbicides 2006, attended by over 1,000 delegates mainly from Africa, called for more investment in research and development of an effective HIV-fighting vaginal microbicide.

Microbicides are compounds that can be applied inside the vagina or rectum to protect against sexually transmitted infections, including HIV that causes AIDS. They can be formulated as gels, creams, films or suppositories, said the website of the Global Campaign for Microbicides, www.global-campaign.org.

Microbicides offer an alternative to condoms as the most feasible method for primary prevention of HIV, especially as many women are unable to negotiate condom use with their partners, said the organization.

Despite the knowledge of successful HIV-prevention strategies, such as condom use and reduction in the number of sexual partners, HIV continues to spread at an alarming rate across the world, with sub-Saharan Africa as the epicenter.

In Africa, 76 percent of HIV positive people in the 15 to 24 year age group are women.

Their vulnerability stemmed from a pervasive disempowerment, and the fact that for too long, only lip service had been paid to gender equality, said Graca Machel, wife of South Africa's former president Nelson Mandela.

"For over 20 years we have failed to provide women with a means to protect themselves against HIV infection. .. We need a microbicide available now," women's rights advocate Machel was quoted as telling the conference by Johannesburg-based newspaper The Star on Monday.

There were a number of clinical trials going on around the world, including several in South Africa, and researchers were hoping the first set of results, positive or negative, would be available at the end of 2008.

The earliest a safe and efficient microbicide might be expected on the market, should the trials prove successful, is 2010.

Machel said it was estimated that a microbicide that is even only 60 percent efficient could prevent 3.7 million new infections in three years if used by all women who were currently unable to insist on condoms.

Source: Xinhua