Some people living with HIV/AIDS say it is imperative to closely monitor clinical trials used to help fight the disease as treatment options should be safe and ethical.
Martha Tholana, one of the participants at a conference being held in USA and who is living with HIV/AIDS, told VOA Studio 7 she is looking forward to the findings that will come out of the annual 2016 AIDS Clinical Trials Group conference so that she can share them with various communities.
The conference started Sunday and ends Thursday. A large delegation of international researchers, community leaders, laboratory technicians and people living with HIV/AIDS, including those from Zimbabwe, are attending the meeting. The conference is sponsored by the United States National Institute of Health.
"We are here to discuss what is coming out of the clinical trials unit and clinical research sites for those conducting research on new HIV/AIDS protocols and hope that whatever comes out of these findings we will share with the communities we work with back home," said Tholana.
The meeting will also have international community advisory board members including those from Zimbabwe who will be having no-holes barred discussions with researchers on different clinical trials used to ensure that they are ethical and safe.
"Our role to ensure that clinical trials held to find new treatment protocols for HIV/AIDS are ethical and safe. Most of the community advisory board members from different countries have now become the watchdogs for communities that are affected by HIV/AIDS,” said Tholana.
