Vaginal ring preventing HIV will be tested in Africa

According to researchers in the United States, a trial in which American teenagers used a vaginal ring to prevent HIV infection has proved successful and they plan to conduct further research with teenagers in Africa.  The device is a flexible plastic ring, embedded with anti-retroviral drugs and the researchers state that their research is a drive to develop a device which women can use to protect themselves from HIV infection, so they don't have to rely on men to wear condoms.

This is good, however, I find this 'testing in Africa' a bit uncomfortable. After all, The continent Africa is not the only place with HIV positive people. The argument that there are more people with HIV in Africa is a weak one in this case. After all, Africa will not be the only market for the product so they could test this product in other continents apart from Africa.

Anyway, after many years of the HIV pandemic, African experts, community organisations, NGOs and individuals have contributed immensely in fighting the disease and this includes ways of not exposing oneself to the illness, which by the way is not only through sexual intercourse. The African youth are very aware of and understand how to protect themselves from the disease. 

Why does Africa have to be a testing lab for researchers who do not really know and understand the issues of the African people? This opens up a lot of questions especially one of ethics. Are the girls to have sexual intercourse with HIV positive men in order to know the success of this ring? If not, how do we measure success? So, the researchers put this ring on the girls and then what? How many days are the girls to have sex, with whom and who decides?

So, is the testing for young girls who may be or may not be sexually active? In the period of the testing, are the girls told that they have to have sex and what happens if they don’t?

Finally, where the girls in this ‘Africa’ consulted or will they be consulted?  To whose benefit is this research for, the girls in Africa or the multi billion making industry championing this product?


Read more:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-africa-40384246