Rwanda is in the third and final phase of testing a vaginal ring containing antiretrovirals<\/span>, which, if successful, could provide an important female-controlled method of HIV prevention. <\/p>\n Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa and Zimbabwe have all been selected to conduct the final phase of the trial. Phases I and II – conducted in Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa – assessed the safety and acceptability of a daily application of a gel containing the ARV<\/span>,dapivirine<\/span><\/a>. <\/p>\n “Phases I and II were completed successfully ; this means that the microbicide<\/span> has been evaluated and found to be safe and acceptable,” Gilles Ndayisaba<\/span>, the principal investigator at Project Ubuzima<\/span>. “Even if in Rwanda we conducted phase I and II on the gel, these phases have been done with the ring in several others [countries] and they were successful,” he added. <\/p>\n Phase I trials involved small numbers of women, followed by expanded safety trials, Phase I\/II, which gathered additional safety data among more participants over longer periods. Once the safety trials are complete, longer-term safety and efficacy trials begin. Phase III trials are conducted among high-risk participants so that researchers can see if there is a difference in infection rates between women who use the active microbicide<\/span> product versus those who use a placebo. This phase looks specifically at the efficacy and gathers information to proceed with putting the product on the general market. <\/p>\n