This ring can help stop the spread of HIV in women

In the ongoing fight against HIV, researchers claim to have discovered a method of significantly reducing the risk of women contracting the disease.

When used consistently for a month at a time, tests show that a vaginal ring containing an antiretroviral (ARV) drug called dapivirine can provide significant protection against HIV. In particular, among women who appeared to use the ring most regularly, HIV risk was cut by more than half, and in some, by 75 per cent or more.

The results come from the Aspire study (A Study to Prevent Infection with a Ring for Extended Use) announced at The International Conference on AIDS (AIDS 2016) in Durban, South Africa.

The new results, based on additional analyses, suggest the dapivirine ring may be far more effective when used most or all the time, according to researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded Microbicide Trials Network.

Vaginal rings are flexible items that fit high up inside the vagina where they release a medication slowly over time. The ring tested as part of Aspire contains 25mg of dapivirine, about 4mg of which gets released over 28 days.

The ring is meant to be used for a month at a time, and women can insert and remove it themselves. The dapivirine ring was developed by the nonprofit International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM).

Use and adherence was measured using blood tests specifically looking for the presence of the drug in samples from the participants' quarterly visits. After a year, the amount of residual drug remaining in used rings was also monitored. The analysis presented at AIDS 2016 included 2,359 women and data from more than 12,000 returned rings.