A company in South Africa will make vaginal rings that protect against HIV, which AIDS experts say should eventually make them cheaper and more readily available.
The Population Council announced on Thursday that Johannesburg’s Kiara Health will start manufacturing the silicone rings in the coming years, estimating that 1 million could be produced annually. The devices release a drug that helps prevent HIV infections and are approved by nearly a dozen countries and the World Health Organization.
The nonprofit council owns the rights to the rings, which are now manufactured by a Swedish company. About 500,00 rings are currently available to women in Africa at no cost, purchased from donors.
Ben Phillips, a spokesman for the UN AIDS agency, said the advantage of the ring is that it gives women the freedom to use it without anyone else’s knowledge or consent.
“For women whose partners don’t use a condom or don’t let them take oral (HIV preventive) drugs, this gives them another option,” she said.
HIV remains the leading cause of death among women of reproductive age in Africa, and 60% of new infections are women, according to WHO data.
The ring releases the drug dapivirine in slow doses over a month. It currently costs $12 to $16, but experts expect the price to drop once it is widely produced in Africa. The developers are also working on a version that will last up to three months, which should also reduce the annual cost.
The WHO has recommended the ring be used as an additional tool for women at “substantial risk of HIV,” and regulators in more than a dozen African countries, including South Africa, Botswana, Malawi, Uganda and Zimbabwe, have also give the green light. The WHO cited two advanced studies in its endorsement, saying the ring reduced women’s chances of contracting HIV by about a third, while other research has suggested the risk could be reduced by more than 50 percent.
Last year, activists took the stage at a protest during last year’s largest AIDS meeting, calling on donors to buy the silicone rings for African women.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Education Media Group. AP is solely responsible for all content.