Cambodian sex workers and Act-Up activists took over the Gilead Pharmaceutical Company booth at 15th International Aids Conference in Bangkok today, protesting the company's "unethical" planned trial in Cambodia and four countries in Africa.

They threw red paint all over the booth, overturned furniture and stuck posters denouncing Gilead of making use of poor and marginalised groups in developing countries to test its antiretroviral drug Viread (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate).

On Monday night, they interrupted a scientific presentation on The New Anatomy of Effective Antiretroviral Therapy co-sponsored by Gilead. They took over the main stage, screaming that tenofovir made them sick whilst carrying posters saying: "Sex workers infected by Gilead", "Gilead prefers us HIV+" and "Tenofovir me fait vomir" (Tenofovir makes me vomit).

One of the protestor from Cambodia, So Mayounang, 35, told a startled audience that the 960 sex workers who were recruited to participate in the trial next month, were not informed of the serious side effects, which included possible liver and kidney failure.

"The agreement is that we will refrain from using condoms. We also had to have blood tests to ensure we are HIV-negative before the trial," she said. In exchange for their participation in the trial, the sex workers would be given US$3 (RM12) a day.

Act-Up Paris treatment and research director Fabrice Pilorge said the Gilead trials are expecting the sex workers to be infected, yet do not plan to offer any antiretroviral treatment (the standard treatment for HIV/Aids) to those who happened to contract the HIV during the study.

"The company must ensure that those who become HIV+ during the trial have access to lifelong anti-retrovirals. There must also be real counselling on sexually transmitted infections and access to free condoms. Unless these demands are met, we demand that the unethical trials be stopped," he said.

Five clinical trials

The double-blind placebo trial, in which half the participants would be given placebo (non active) drug, and half on tenofovir, aims to evaluate the efficacy of tenofovir in reducing the risk of HIV transmission.

According to Gilead vice-president of clinical research James Rooney there are five clinical trials planned for this year in Cambodia, Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana and San Francisco involving a total of about 2,500 participants of high risk groups including sex workers and men who have sex with men. (MSM)

The large scale trials are set up by the US-based Family Health Institute, the US Center of Disease Control, University of California and University of New South Wales. They are funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation while Gilead supplies the drug for free.

In response to the claims made by the Cambodian sex workers and Act-Up that the organisers of the trials do not planned to provide treatment at the event the participants contract HIV, he said: "It is not part of protocol, but it is stipulated that those patients who do become infected will be able to access care at the site locally."

President of US-based Family Health Institute Dr William Cates denied that the trials were not conducted ethically. "Patients would be at lower risk of being infected because they would be given regular counselling and free condoms. Being part of the trial would also provide tham with monthly check-ups on sexually-transmitted infections," he said.

ONG JU LYNN is reporting on the conference from Bangkok for malaysiakini .