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The article reports that clinical research shows women are able to significantly reduce their chances of becoming infected by the HIV virus by applying a gel containing the antiretroviral drug tenofovir both before and after sexual intercourse. Conducted by the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa, the study holds promise for fighting AIDS in that nation and elsewhere in Africa.

The article reports on evidence which has emerged which suggests that Merck & Co.'s experimental HIV vaccine may have made its recipients more vulnerable to the deadly AIDS virus. The evidence has prompted researchers to warn participants in other trials that similarly made vaccines for a range of other diseases might also increase their susceptibility to HIV. The impact the evidence may have on further vaccine research is discussed.

Reports that French and South African medical researchers have found that male circumcision reduces the risk that men will contact HIV through intercourse with infected women by seventy percent. Review of the difficulty in stopping the spread of HIV cases worldwide; Difficulty of developing a vaccine for the disease; Discussion of how the circumcision findings were so dramatic that the data and safety monitoring board overseeing the research halted the study in February on the grounds that it would be immoral to proceed without offering the uncircumcised control group the opportunity to undergo the procedure.

The article reports on the failure of the experimental AIDS vaccine of Merck & Co. to prevent test subjects from becoming infected with HIV as well as offer indication that it might delay the onset of full-blown AIDS. Mark Feinberg of Merck has expressed disappointment over the failure of this trial which was considered the leading edge of research on T-cell based HIV vaccines.

Discusses the growth of the AIDS epidemic in Russia. Fact that Russia has the world's fastest-growing rate of HIV infections; Prevalence of illicit drug use in Russia; How strict laws have filled the prisons with drug addicts, who spread HIV through shared needles and sexual contact; Concern that the infected prison and drug-using populations could lead to an epidemic within the general population; Description of prison conditions.

Reports on experimental treatments for HIV and AIDS. How certain drugs work; Details on the drugs which were revealed at the Ninth Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections; Drugs from companies such as Merck & Co., Tibotec-Virco, Pfizer, and others.

Reports on the efforts of AngloGold Ltd. to fight against HIV and AIDS in South Africa. Percentages of South African adults infected with HIV; Social and economic conditions that promote the spread of AIDS in South Africa; AngloGold's plans to conduct a clinical study to determine the percentage of its employees who are invected with HIV; Plans of other companies with South African employees including DaimlerChrysler AG and Coco-Cola Co. to supply workers with AIDS treatments.

Focuses on an agreement between several drug companies and the Senegal government on HIV drug price reductions which was reached at an October 2000 meeting in Cairo, Egypt. Background on the price-cut agreement between the Joint United Nations Programme on AIDS and drug companies; Details on the discount plans of drug companies; Significance of the agreement.

Reports on the development of a possible vaccine for the AIDS virus. Development of the vaccine by Harvard University scientists; Tests of the vaccine on monkeys who did not become sick when infected with the virus; Details of how the vaccine works by priming the immune system to control the virus rather than repelling it; Concern as to the lasting effect of the vaccine.

Details the study published in the periodical `Nature' in September 2000 which offers a promise of long-term therapy for HIV infected patients. Implications of the results of the study; Discussion on the results of the study; HIV treatment.