ATLANTA (AP) — Two new studies in Africa found that daily pills prevented infection with the AIDS virus in heterosexual men and women.
The studies contradict earlier research that seemed to show the pills did not prevent infection in women in some African countries. Authors of the new studies think the earlier work may have been flawed.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ran a study done in Botswana. The University of Washington ran the second study in Kenya and Uganda. Both found that the pills reduced the risk of HIV infection by 63 percent or more.
Because of the success in preventing HIV, the University of Washington stopped the part of the study that gave placebos to some participants so they could benefit from the protective pills. The drugs used are made by Gilead Sciences Inc. of California.
