Tuesday, December 12, 2006
‘Doing It For Science’ Safer Sex Roundup
filed under: Do It for Science by Melissa Gira
The Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences released yesterday reports on the development of a “molecular condom” designed by University of Utah scientists. Treated with “semen-seing gel,” the condom still has about five years more to go in development, but it is believed to be able to maintain effectiveness for up a day or more after insertion.
The above condom works by delivering a microbial gel, such as the controversial tenofovir, which was tested mostly on women in the developing world. Microbicide gels are so-called “female-initiated” safer sex interventions, which, so goes the current thinking on HIV prevention, are a real missing link in public health. It’s true that women do need a way to take control of HIV prevention, but honestly, isn’t there some more effective way also to get more men to get over their [fear? disdain for? paranoia that they can’t get off with?] condoms, too?
On that note,The Kinsey Institute and Indiana University Research team members have recently published this paper on erection loss with condom usage and its correlation to “risky behaviors.” Scary factoid: “nearly 40 percent of their study participants — male patients at an STI clinic — reported condom-associated erection loss at least once in the previous three months.” That’s all the more reason for safer sex education to focus on communication (read: dirty talk), intimacy (or, not just penis + vagina = awesome), and relationship skills building (the community health care way to say how to learn to fuck better together so that you can maybe get grant funding to do it) as ways to promote condom usage.
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation is placing ads calling for Pfizer to stop promoting Viagra as a sexual-enhancement drug: “We urge Pfizer to not only end this dangerous marketing tactic, but also to fund a national educational campaign on the dangers of Viagra and crystal meth in order to mitigate the negative impact its advertising continues to have.”
Finally, if you’re in New Zealand, Durex will trade you free condoms for field-testing their new products.
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‘Doing It For Science’ Safer Sex Roundup…
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The whole concept of microbicidal gels for women and men is an intriguing move forward. It’s quite likely that as Nonoxynol-9 is removed from condoms in 2007 that we’ll find condoms laced with Chlorhexidine Gluconate, since it’s so widely tested and used.
Indeed, I’ve come across a gel that has CHG within it http://pumphouse.me.uk/acatalog/Lubes.html that although not promoted as a condom free lubricant, certainly appears to offer a second level protection against STDs and presumably offers a safer barrier for when condoms lose their strength in protracted sessions.
Davy