Until twenty years ago, women of childbearing age, mice, rabbits, bitches and other female animals were systematically excluded from clinical trials of new drugs . Pharmacologists felt that female hormones might modify their experiments and, instead of taking this into account, preferred not to be bothered by this uncomfortable variable.

This inequality has direct consequences on tolerance to certain treatments, particularly in the case of AIDS . While in the beginning the epidemic affected an almost entirely male population, today it concerns 50% of women. Despite this, only 18% participate in trials of new drugs. Poorly adapted to the feminine physiology, some of them have pest side effects: Viramine carries risks of cutaneous and hepatic pathology seven times higher on women than on men, antiproteases (one of the components of tritherapies) decrease effectiveness of the pill , antiretroviral drugs cause such changes in the female silhouette (swelling of the belly, weight loss of the legs and arms) that some patients prefer to interrupt their treatment rather than see their body deformed ... The Women's Commission Act Up * advocates for women to finally participate widely in clinical trials.

(*) www.actupparis.org.