Monday, November 14, 2011

Rectal! Rectal! Read all About It!

via AIDS Foundation of Chicago, by Gregory Trotter

The word elicits a certain reaction from people.

“People say the word ‘rectal’ and they -- ,” said Jim Pickett, going into a simulated full body shudder of disgust.

Pickett, chair of the International Rectal Microbicide Advocates (affectionately dubbed IRMA), would know. He’s an outspoken advocate for more research and funding in the relatively new field searching for an effective rectal microbicide, an antiretroviral gel that could be a valuable tool in saving lives by preventing HIV/AIDS.

Along with his co-panelists, Pickett was at the United States Conference on AIDS on Friday afternoon to talk about microbicides and other promising new prevention tools, such as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and female condoms.

“If condoms work, why do even need this?” Pickett, direction of prevention policy and gay men’s health for the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, asked the group of 30 or so people gathered for the discussion.

Mumbled answers from various people essentially spoke the same truth: Often, people do not use condoms because they’re uncomfortable, and because they can inhibit pleasure and intimacy.

A vaginal microbicide is much closer to being a reality than the rectal variety, mostly because research into the latter has been slowed by years of stigma and political heel-dragging, Pickett said in a separate conversation. Whereas a vaginal microbicide is perhaps a few years away, it could be another 10 years before a rectal product is fully vetted and ready for use.

But both are essential for preventing HIV in men and women, Pickett said. Globally, women are seven times more likely to have unprotected anal sex than men, a conservative projection based on the limited data on anal sex among heterosexuals, he said.

And this biological fact speaks to the need for a rectal-specific microbicide: The rectal wall is only one cell layer of protection from viruses, as opposed to the vaginal wall, which is 20-40 cell layers thick.

But perhaps the most controversial new prevention method is PrEP.

Recent trials have proven PrEP to be effective among gay/bi men who adhere to a regimen of Truvada, the drug made by Gilead Sciences, Inc. The results have been more mixed in trials involving heterosexuals.

Read the rest.


[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

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