Diaphragm provides no extra protection against AIDS-Report

Using a diaphragm in addition to a condom during sex provides no extra protection against the AIDS virus, a new research unveiled on Thursday, adding more to a surging list of disappointments in efforts to prevent the disease's spread.

The diaphragm is a shallow dome of thin rubber with a firm, flexible rim barrier which works as a method of contraception that is placed inside the vagina to cover the cervix (entrance to the womb). When the man ejaculates inside the woman, the diaphragm stops the sperm getting into the womb and thus prevents pregnancy.

The diaphragm, which tucks in behind the pubic bone in vagina, is left in place for a further six hours (or longer if wished) during which time any sperm in the vagina die.

It was believed that this female-controlled method of avoiding AIDS might give women a little extra protection against the virus, especially when so many men are unwilling to use condoms.

But, a recent study, conducted by Dr. Nancy Padian of the University of California San Francisco and colleagues, shattered all hopes, saying the approach failed prevent the infection.

In a $37-million clinical trial funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, PAdian, leader of the international team of researchers on the study, and fellow researchers included 5,000 South African and Zimbabwean women, most of whom were married or in steady relationships.

In their two-year study, the researchers tested the theory that covering the cervix with a diaphragm and still using a condom would enhance protection against HIV. They gave all the study subjects an HIV prevention package, consisting of condoms, pre-test and post-test counselling about HIV and sexually transmitted infections, testing and treatment. A group of women also got diaphragms.

After observing the study participants for twenty four months, the researchers found that those who used diaphragms along with a lubricant gel in addition to condoms were nearly as likely to be infected as those who used only condoms during sex.

They found the similar rate of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS in both groups. The infection rate was the equivalent of 4.1 percent per year in the intervention group that included methods of diaphragm and lubricant and 3.9 percent in the control group that used only provision of condoms. In addition, the trial also showed 158 new HIV infections in the intervention arm, while this figure was 151 in the control group.

"These results do not support the addition of the diaphragm to current HIV prevention strategies. Condoms remain the only proven barrier method for HIV prevention," Padian said in a statement. "Women who cannot convince their male partners to use condoms are still in urgent need of a female-controlled method of protection."

Shocking results of the trial were published online on Thursday in the Lancet medical journal.

Bill Gates, the chairman of Microsoft Corp., and his wife Melinda set up a $33-billion foundation in 2000 to support research into the prevention of malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS as well as measures against hunger and poverty. The world’s largest transparently operated charitable foundation works in developing countries to improve health and reduce poverty and in the US to support education and libraries nationwide and children and families in the Pacific Northwest.

The global pandemic, HIV AIDS is spreading like forest fire worldwide AIDS, affecting nearly 40 million people globally. The infectious disease is now transmitted mostly during sex between a man and a woman.

Sub-Saharan Africa is the worst hit region by the HIV virus. The epidemic has engulfed more than 25 million sub-Saharan Africans since the incurable disease was first emerged in 1981. Around 40 million people now live with HIV infection, most in this hardest hit region.

Sub-Saharan Africa is still bearing the brunt of the AIDS epidemic, accounting for almost two-thirds of all HIV infections and 72 percent of global AIDS deaths, the UN AIDS agency leading the battle against the disease reported in November 2006. A huge and disproportionate 59 percent of sub-Saharans Africans with HIV are women, the report added.

China, the world’s most populous nation, is another Aids-hit region. In 1998, China's Ministry of Health had estimated that 10 million citizens of China could be living with HIV infection by 2010 unless a vigorous program of prevention and treatment of the dreaded virus was launched.

According to the new 2006 estimates released recently by the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO), supported by UNAIDS and WHO, national adult HIV prevalence in India is approximately 0.36%, which corresponds to an estimated 2 million to 3.1 million people living with HIV in the country.

There is no cure and the virus has killed 25 million people.