Microbicides are compounds that can be applied inside the vagina or rectum to protect against sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV. They can be formulated as gels, creams, films, or suppositories. Microbicides may or may not have spermicidal activity (contraceptive effect). At present, an effective microbicide is not available (WHO definition)
Category Archives: Concept maps
PrEP, An Overview
Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is an experimental HIV-prevention strategy that proposes using antiretrovirals (ARVs) to reduce the risk of HIV infection in healthy uninfected people at risk of acquiring the virus. PrEP is not proven to work and is currently being tested in HIV-negative people in several clinical trials across the world. It is …
Barriers to condom use
To use or not to use a condom for sexual intercourse is the result of a combination of several interacting factors. From the rational decision to choose not to use condoms to that of not being able to choose to use them, there is a broad range of possible accounts.
Addressing poor condom use therefore is …
Biological Factors Affecting HIV Infection
Several factors are important in determining if the HIV virus can be passed from an infected person to another one. These include biological and social factors which both relate to the exposed and the “infector” individuals.
This conceptual framework summarises only the biological factors that influence HIV transmission. When assessing the risk of infection, each should …
Diseases of Poverty
A conceptual framework for understanding the diseases of poverty. Despite tremendous technological and scientific progresses in the understanding of diseases and their management, millions of people in the developing world still die of preventable infections and food scarcity whilst millions of other in the developped world die of diseases of opulence and excess.
HIV Prevention, an Overview
HIV prevention goes far beyond the simplistic ABC message that hijacks most of the media attention. This figure tries to illustrate the breadth and diversity of the field of HIV prevention (Click to enlarge). It would still need to be further expanded to really cover all the aspects of an ever growing field.
