Gender equity in HIV / AIDS clinical trials.

Gender equity in HIV clinical research raises several distinct issues for a clinician or lawyer working with HIV-infected women. First most HIV-infected women come from impoverished communities that are underserved "hard to reach" and historically underrepresented in clinical trials. Second sex-specific data and studies have been neglected for all women especially low-income women and even more so low-income HIV-infected women. Third reproductive risk (ie endangerment of fetuses or children) represents a commonly cited obstacle to the participation of women in clinical trials. Since the 1980s HIV/AIDS clinical trials have depended heavily on enrollment of gay white male subjects: those individuals who had knowledgeable personal physicians or who attended HIV clinics at academic centers and were often eager to explore new therapies for their life-threatening illness. By comparison women persons of color and drag users who increasingly bear the burden of the epidemic from a demographic standpoint remain under-enrolled and are slow to benefit from the newest antiviral medications. (excerpt)