Active and full involvement of women in clinical research is essential to developing new strategies to prevent HIV infections and to provide treatment and care to women living with HIV. It is also very important that women of all ages, races, ethnicities and HIV risk participate in clinical research reflecting the wide variety of women in need of prevention strategies and treatment.
Many people living in the United States are not aware of the severe impact that HIV/AIDS is having on women in the world. Women make up more than half of the 35.3 million people living with HIV in the world.
In the Unites States almost 1 out of 4 people living with HIV is a woman. Cuyahoga County’s epidemic reflects the national impact; in 2013 women represented 23% of people living with HIV. In sub-Saharan Africa, where HIV has caused an unimaginable amount of human suffering, women are 60% of the people living with HIV.
Finding Out About Clinical Trials. The staff of the Case Western Reserve/University Hospitals AIDS Clinical Trials Unit (Case ACTU) is always quite willing to talk with people who want to find out more about a clinical trial. We provide the facts and you provide the decisions: we never pressure someone into joining one of our clinical trials. We recognize that every trial is not for everyone. We can be contacted by calling 216-844-4444 or at info@case.edu. You can also sign up on to get more information by completing the form located here.
Currently Enrolling Trials. The Case ACTU often has several different trials open at the same time enrolling HIV-positive or HIV-negative women. Some of these trials only enroll women, while others are not gender specific and enroll both men and women.
We are currently enrolling HIV-negative women in one HIV prevention trial: a passive immunization study enrolling low-risk men and women age 18-50 [HVTN104]. Other HIV prevention studies will open soon. Each trial is very different from the others including differences in the purpose of the trial, who can enroll, the study products, the numbers of visits and the trial length.
The Case ACTU often has several treatment trials in which women participants are particularly sought. A listing of the treatment trials currently enrolling at the Case ACTU can be found here.
For more information on Women and HIV go to:
US Office of Women’s Health, US Department of Health and Human Services www.womenshealth.gov/hiv-aids
US Centers for Disease Control: www.cdc.gov/hiv/risk/gender/women/index.html
Positive Women’s Network: pwnusa.wordpress.com