- Given women's difficulty in protecting themselves from partners who put them at risk of infection from sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS, there is a critical need for an expanded arsenal of tools women can use without relying on their partners' cooperation.
- Current research is exploring the ability of various compounds to serve as a vaginal microbicide that women can use to protect themselves, and their partners, from infection.
- In past studies, women have informed us that they would most likely to use a vaginal microbicide with their partners' knowledge and approval.
- Therefore, it is critical to learn about whether men would agree to the use of such a product.
- This study of Mexican taxi drivers and farmers has shown that both urban and rural men recognize the existence of AIDS and the need for protection from the disease, though on a personal level they tended to discount their own risk of infection.
- Although men were generally in support of the notion of allowing women to protect themselves, there was considerable ambivalence regarding use of microbicides by their own wives and daughters.
- In general, men agreed that microbicides should be available through traditional health care networks, and taxi drivers noted that they should also be available in all places where condoms can be obtained.
- The consensus was that microbicides should be marketed to both men and women.
- We recognize the constraints of conducting research on products that do not yet exist; however, it is possible to glean important information—often based on existing, similar products—that can guide researchers in the development of new microbicidal products.
- Findings from this and future studies of this kind may also be useful in guiding policy decisions relating to the ways in which future microbicidal products can be integrated into existing health care strategies that aim to reduce transmission of AIDS and other STDs.
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