[Press Kit, International Conference on AIDS (13th : 2000 : Durban, South Africa)]

Listen to the voices of those who should know:
On the need...
"There is an urgent need for more methods to prevent HIV infection, especially those that
put women in control. The search for an effective and safe vaginal microbicide has been
progressing too slowly-we need more researchers from the public and private sectors
acting with appropriate urgency to development a microbicide."
--Dr. Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS
"Today, too often, women must rely solely on their male partners for HIV protection.
And in too many cases, that means no protection at all."
--Donna E. Shalala, US Secretary of Health and Human Services.
"Having sex with her husband is considered a wife's duty, even when she knows that her
husband has had other partners and wishes to protect herself If she insists that he use a
condom or refuses to have sex with him, she may be beaten or abandoned. Even if a
woman suspects that her spouse may have been exposed to HIV, she has nowhere to
turn for support, and there are no laws to protect her."
--Deborah K. Raditapole.
Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Lesotho
"What if no reliable, male-controlled HIV prevention device yet existed? Wouldn't the
demand for one be deafening?"
--Anna Forbes, Aids Activist
"If you advise your husband to use a condom, he may beat you and send you away.
Where do you go then?"
Rural woman. Uganda
On the feasibility...
"Most scientists today agree that an effective microbicide against HIV would be possible
to develop-as long as appropriate energy, resources and a conducive research
environment were there."
Dr. Joseph Perriens, UNAIDS
"The development of an effective microbicide is a global priority of the highest order...
The question is not whether the microbicide approach will prevent HIV infection but,
rather, what proportion of HIV infections it will prevent.
Dr. Alan Stone, Medical Research Council, UK
"We can make good, safe microbicides publicly available if we choose to. We have
everything we need to make it happen-except the will and the money."
Dr. Sharon Hillier, MD, PhD,
Microbicide Researcher, University of Pittsburgh