Microbicides: Giving Women Power Over AIDS

HIV/AIDS remains one of the greatest burdens to the future health and well-being of our world. Even with improved access to antiretroviral (ARV) drugs in resource-limited settings, HIV/AIDS is the cause of more deaths annually than nearly any other infectious disease. 

 With 97 percent of new infections occurring in developing countries, the epidemic is exacting a particularly high price from the world’s most vulnerable societies — and particularly from women, who make up 60 percent of HIV-positive individuals in sub-Saharan Africa.

This seven-page publication provides a brief introduction to:

• The unequal impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on women 
• The promise of microbicide development in the wake of findings showing the great potential of ARV-based prevention and the first-ever proof-of-concept for microbicides
• The essential role microbicides play in global developing and achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 
• An overview of IPM’s pipeline and R&D process 
• The need for continued support for microbicide development