But researcher Bethany Young Holt, who's conducting focus groups at colleges in California, has found that young women in the U.S. would buy the product. I get reactions from women who are desperate for these products and tell me they would pay almost anything for them. In fact, more than 12.5 million American women would be interested in using microbicides according to a survey by the Allan Gutmacher Institute. But to test for effectiveness, there need to be large numbers of participants which is why most of the trials are done in developing countries where AIDS is epidemic. Doctor Kenneth Mayer, who has helped design microbicide studies abroad, says it's important to be sensitive to the needs of participants, most of whom are poor.
Researchers face other challenges as well.
For example, there's no way to be sure that the women in the study are actually using microbicides. Also, there's the issue of condoms. Ethically, researchers must encourage participants to use them. That makes it more difficult to know whether the microbicide is working. But Polly Harrison isn't waiting for research to yield a product before spreading the word about microbicides.