New Jersey Herald News Publishes Series, Photographs Examining Evolution of HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Ghana

The New Jersey Herald News on Sunday published a series of articles examining the evolution of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Ghana and a gallery of photographs, titled "AIDS: A New Era, New Faces." The series includes articles profiling several HIV-positive people, their families and their circumstances, as well as the "fervent hope" in the development of a microbicide currently undergoing Phase III clinical testing in Ghana (Scheier, New Jersey Herald News, 8/14). Microbicides include a range of products -- such as gels, films, sponges and other products -- that could help prevent the sexual transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. Huntington, Pa.-based biotechnology firm Biosyn is testing Savvy, a vaginal microbicide that is expected to be on the market in 2007, in Ghana, Nigeria and the U.S. (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 1/3). Although "[n]o one knows how well it will work," Savvy is a "promising" product that could "protect millions of women worldwide" who "desperately" need a female-controlled HIV prevention method, according to the Herald News (New Jersey Herald News, 8/14).