ASSOCIATED PRESS
The first test of a daily pill to prevent HIV infection
shows promise, but a real answer must await results of a larger study due out
next year.

The experiment, done in Africa, mainly showed that the drug
Viread is safe when used for prevention. Fewer people given the drug caught the
AIDS virus than those given dummy pills, but so few in either group became
infected that valid comparisons cannot be made, scientists said.

Still,
"it’s incredibly encouraging," said Dr. Helene Gayle, president of the
antipoverty group CARE and co-chair of the International AIDS Conference in
Toronto, where the results were released yesterday.

If future studies show
effectiveness, the drug "would be an incredibly important new prevention tool
that we should make available as soon as possible," she said.

A vaccine is
considered the best hope for stopping the spread of AIDS, but scientists have
not been able to make one that prevents infection. Condoms and counseling have
not been enough — each year, the virus spreads to 5 million more people
worldwide.

The new approach involves Viread (known generically as
tenofovir), a drug already used to treat AIDS. Animal research suggests that
taking it before being exposed to HIV could help prevent infection.

A study
by Family Health International, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation, tested the drug on women in Africa at high risk because of multiple
sex partners. None had HIV at the start of the study. They were randomly
assigned to receive either Viread or dummy pills daily. All were counseled and
given condoms.

No safety problems emerged — an important first step, said
Leigh Peterson, project manager for Family Health. After an average of six
months, only two cases of HIV developed among the 427 women on Viread, compared
with six infections among the 432 given the dummy pills.

"We really would be
irresponsible to draw conclusions at this time," because the study was small,
said Dr. Ward Cates, of Family Health. "But it does underscore the importance of
moving forward very quickly now on the other studies on the drawing board."
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is studying drug
users in Thailand, heterosexual men and women in Botswana, and gay men in
Atlanta and San Francisco. Plans are proceeding to add a third U.S. city, said
Dr. Lynn Paxton, of the CDC.

The Thailand results might be ready late next
year and should reveal whether the strategy works. The Botswana study recently
was changed to add a second drug, FTC.

However, the Africa study highlights
the ethical perils of such research. It originally was to include 1,200 women —
400 each in Ghana, Cameroon and Nigeria — but Nigeria and Cameroon withdrew from
the study over concerns about whether and for how long women in the study who
became infected would receive treatment for AIDS.

Family Health worked to
formalize contracts with local providers for testing and treatment as
appropriate so the study could go forward on a limited scope, Peterson said.

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No, it isn't that education and use safe sex practices could do the same thing.