With an AIDS vaccine still out of reach, two rigorous new studies have found different ways to sharply cut H.I.V. infections among women and schoolgirls, who make up a majority of the newly infected in sub-Saharan Africa.
After two decades in which researchers searched fruitlessly for an effective vaginal microbicide to block H.I.V., South African scientists working in two AIDS-devastated communities of South Africa say they have finally found something that shows real promise.
The gel lowered HIV infection rates in women by 39 percent, compared to those women using a placebo gel.
(READ the story in NY Times)