View All Abstracts for Session 6
23 The Recruitment of Women as a Priority for HIV Vaccine Trials
B. Haire*, D. Murphy, A. Quan, and R. Gorna
Australian Federation of AIDS Organizations, Darlinghurst, NSW, Australia
Background: Women represent 60% of new HIV infections globally. Women cannot physically control whether or not condoms are used for intercourse. Marriage is a significant risk factor for HIV transmission in many parts of the world, because the woman partner may lack the autonomy to refuse sex, decree condom use, or expect monogamy from her partner. Both gender inequality and sexual violence mean that women do not necessarily have control over whether or not they have sex. There is no behavioural HIV prevention mechanism that women can utilise without the knowledge and consent of her partner (“female” condoms are both expensive and detectable). An HIV vaccine that is safe for women of childbearing age(and eventually for pregnant women(ought therefore to be a priority.
Methods: The Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO) is a partner in a consortium involved in the development of a candidate preventative HIV vaccine, under contract to the US National Institutes of Health. The task of the AFAO is community work. In consulting with affected communities prior to protocol design, AFAO had briefing meetings and information sessions and distributed literature.
Results: Women and women’s representative organisations were reluctant to attend briefings and consultation meetings. Upon investigation, AFAO was told that because HIV predominantly affects gay men in Australia, HIV vaccine research was neither a concern nor a priority of women’s organisations. In addition to this perception, women have been historically underrepresented in clinical research for a variety of reasons. Uncertainty about later plans for child bearing may cause women to self-exclude from safety trials due to fears about reproductive impacts. Targeted and innovative approaches were therefore found necessary to engage women in dialogue about potential trial participation, and women’s information needs were significantly different from men’s.
Conclusions: Women need to be actively recruited for vaccine trials and research into any potential reproductive impacts needs to be a priority. Women who are of childbearing age and potential but who belong to demographic groups less likely to become pregnant could be specifically targeted for initial trials.
Contact Author about this Abstract
