This report was provided to The Root by the Black AIDS Institute's media delegation to the AIDS 2010 conference in Vienna, Austria. The writer, Linda Villarosa, is a member of that delegation and a regular contributor to The Root.

In a groundbreaking study, a gel made using an antiretroviral drug was found to be effective in reducing a woman's risk of becoming infected with HIV. This is the first time in history that this kind of topical medication, known as a microbicide, has worked, despite many earlier trials. The research broke yesterday at the International AIDS Conference in Vienna and is widely believed to be the biggest news that will come out of the six-day event.

Though the results will need to be confirmed and a product won't hit the market for at least a few years, this news marks a major stride for women around the world, particularly in Africa and in African-American communities. It will finally offer a female-controlled way for women to protect themselves in the sexual arena, where men, too often, call all the shots.

Gel containing the drug tenofovir and applicators. (blackaids.org)

"This becomes a self-empowerment resource for black women, who are disproportionately impacted among all women with HIV," said C. Virginia Fields, president and CEO of the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS. "This would provide a much-needed tool in our arsenal against HIV, given that there are so few effective interventions targeting women of color. Ideally, it will stem the tide of increased infections."

The study of 889 uninfected black women, ages 18 to 40, in rural and urban KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, found that the gel containing the HIV drug tenofovir (currently prescribed in pill form under the trade name Viread) cut the risk of infections by 39 percent. Among the women who used it consistently and correctly, the results were even better: 54 percent effectiveness. Either way you look at it, in the science world these numbers signal a major coup.