§ Mr. GerrardTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans he has for further funding to ensure the Microbicide Development Programme Phase III effectiveness trials of candidate microbicides are completed and facilitate future product development. [171260]
Mr. Gareth ThomasDFID is strongly committed to research and development and is proud to be the first government donor on microbicides. Women friendly technologies including microbicides will be an essential component of an effective HIV response enabling women to take control of their lives.
Even an only partially effective microbicide to prevent sexual transmission of HIV could prevent 2.5 million deaths from AIDS every three years. DFID welcomes the fact that five clinical field trials of different microbicide candidates will be launched in 2004. It will be important to complete these trials in order to identify the most effective product.
DFID is providing a grant of £16 million over five years (2001–2006) for the Microbicide Development Programme (MDP), co-ordinated by the Clinical Trials Unit of the Medical Research Council (MRC), and Imperial College. The programme is investigating the effectiveness of promising microbicide products, involving research centres in five African countries. DFID support accounts for over half of the projected costs.
DFID has been in discussion with other donors concerning support to the current generation of phase III trials, including the MDP. At a meeting on microbicides in Washington last month, strategies were discussed for ensuring the completion of trials, how best to utilise the data collected and how to ensure new candidates were being brought into early clinical studies. DFID's forthcoming strategy on HIV/AIDS will set out how the department will work, including with other donors, to further the development of technologies to combat HIV/AIDS, including microbicides.