A gel has been created which may protect women from getting AIDS during sexual intercourse when the man does not wear a condom. The chemical blocks the route the AIDS virus takes when it invades the body during sex.

Trials on female monkeys exposed to large quantities of the AIDS virus have proved successful, say researchers. The drug is not yet ready for human testing.

You can read about this trial in the journal Science.

By preventing the preferred cellular route the HIV virus uses for invading vaginal tissue, the chemical seems to protect the woman from becoming infected.

Head of Research, Dr. Michael Lederman, Case Western Reserve University, said \"This work gives us a single molecule to target. Having a target in some ways could simplify approaches to prevention.\"

Women seem to be becoming infected with HIV faster than men in many parts of Africa. 50% of the world’s adult population with HIV/AIDS are women (41% in 1997). In some parts of Africa 60% of infected adults are women.

The big problem faced by many women in the world is that their men refuse to wear a condom and force them to have unprotected sex. By having access to a gel, women will be able to take control of their own protection.