A blog about the 16th International AIDS Conference, Toronto, Canada, August 13-18, 2006.
It's only Tuesday, but I've lost count of the number of times presenters have spoken out against the ABC strategy. Each time cheers erupt from the audience, whether it's full of scientists, activists or people living with HIV/AIDS.
At this morning's plenary session Gita Ramjee, Director of the HIV Pevention Unit in Durban, South Africa, and the principal investigator for a variety of advanced clinical trials on microbicides rewrote the alphabet on AIDS prevention.
At the end of her talk, which provided an update on microbicides and other prevention technologies, she recounted a conversation she had with a colleague a few years ago.
"He said HIV prevention was as easy as ABC. I would like to believe that HIV prevention will soon be more than ABC. We will add another C for circumcision, a D for Diaphragm, an E for Exposure prophylaxis (pre- and post)...." She went on:
F - Female controlled microbicides
G - genital tract infection control
H -HSV-2 suppressive treatment
I - Immunity
Gita Ramjee is clearly a realist about the pandemic and the need for new tools to prevent the transmission of HIV. Yet with the last letter in her HIV alphabet reveals her optimism and conviction that the disease will be stopped.
Comments
And ABC stands for what? (I have a sinking feeling that the "A" is for "abstinence," isn't it?)
Posted by: Katherine Sharpe | August 15, 2006 5:34 PM
For the uninitiated, A=abstinence, B=Be faithful, C=condoms.
Posted by: Tara C. Smith | August 16, 2006 1:59 AM