HIV prevention gel for women may be available by 2010.

Gita Ramjee, director of the HIV prevention research unit at South Africa's Medical Research Council, said microbe-killing vaginal gels offered huge potential for stemming the epidemic, especially in societies where men are reluctant to use a condom.

Ramjee said that five separate clinical trials were underway involving 12,000 people in South Africa and thousands in other countries. Results should be ready in the next two years, she said.