Why do HIV studies focus on men if half of the patients are women?

36.9 million people around the world are living with HIV and more than half are women. The news of a patient who appears to have been cured of an HIV infection, the virus that causes AIDS, is an important motivation for scientists insist in the search for a definitive cure for the disease. However, there is an old problem: lack of women in clinical trials of possible treatments, treatments and vaccines against HIV.

What is happening in our region?

"We are working in a Latin American workshop to obtain data from our region," he explains. Comfort Dr. Isabel Cbadetti (MN: 55583), medical director of Helios Salud and member of National AIDS and STD Program Advisory Committee of the country's Ministry of Health. "Although we have common problems, not all Latin American countries are the same. almost 50 percent Women infected with HIV are women. However, in Latin America, this figure reaches 30% ", says the specialist.In Argentina, the figures reflect something similar to the regional average. Seven in 10 people with HIV are men. In addition to these regions, in Africa and even in the southern United States, new infections among young women contribute to the maintenance of the epidemic.

"When we talk about the imperative need to include women in different studies, what is not only about treatment, it's because when we study this subject, we find that it's necessary to have more scientific information about women, "says Cbadetti. As researchers in Argentina and Latin America, what we are developing the most are clinical trials with antiretroviral drugs, which are those given for the treatment of HIV ".

The epidemic is changing

From the beginning, the epidemic has focused mainly on gay menwho were running as soon as possible to gain access to new drugs.

However, it is currently women who are progressing more rapidly to AIDS than infected men and more likely to suffer from heart attacks and strokes. "There are all kinds of differences between men and women, probably partly due to hormonal effects"Said Monica Gandhi, a professor of medicine at the University of California in San Francisco at the New York Times.

It is necessary to have more scientific information about women

Another aspect that influences the fact that fewer women participate in clinical trials is that one of the exclusion criteria focuses on possibility of pregnancy. "When it comes to studying a drug, it is feared that it causes a deterioration of the fetus and the newborn," says Isabel Cbadetti. "As this need is not yet covered, last year, the FDA slightly modified this design and raised the debate whether it is ethical or not exclude women participating in clinical trials because of this problem, "reveals the specialist.

A third aspect, which feeds this difference between the number of men and women participating in clinical trials, relates to the socio-cultural. "Stigma and discrimination in the whole population, it still exists and we must fight like doctors against these barriers, "Cbadetti concludes.