International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

The global healthcare community is increasingly confident that a solution to the HIV epidemic will be reached in the near future.

Researchers, activists and funders congregated for the International Microbicides Conference in Sydney, Australia and they believe that the development of anti-retroviral (ARV) therapies and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) over the last few years makes HIV prevention a reality.

Professor Salim Abdool Karim, Pro Vice-Chancellor of Research at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, told the conference of the implications of the landmark CAPRISA 004 trial, which provided the first proof of concept for ARV-based vaginal microbicides.

"We're in a better place now than we've ever been in the fight to find new ways to prevent HIV among young women," he said.

Many researchers also spoke of the promise of PrEP and its effectiveness in lowering the risk of infection among the HIV-negative population.

Posted by David Smith