(http://naija2day.com/http%3A//naija2day.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Naija2day.png/2013/01/HIV-Aids-300x225.jpg) (http://naija2day.com/http%3A//naija2day.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Naija2day.png/2013/01/HIV-Aids.jpg)FOLLOWING the announcement by Prof. Isaiah Ibeh of the University of Benin of a 'cure' for HIV/AIDS, which he yesterday laid claim to, experts in the science and health sector are calling for caution, as the announcement of a vaccine breakthrough is a more serious business.
Minister of State for Health, Muhammad Pate, Director General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS, Prof. John Idoko and former Vice President of Canada-based World Federation of Science Journalists, Diran Onifade all queried the scientific protocol followed in arriving in the 'cure'.
Prof Ibeh of the University of Benin, had on Tuesday announced the development of a new drug which he claimed could cure HIV and AIDS.
Ibeh, dean of the School of Basic Medical Sciences of the university, claimed in at a news conference in Benin that the herbal drug had undergone 'a series of successful tests''.
He was quoted as saying, "we are at the threshold of making history, in the sense that we seem to have with us something that will permanently take care of what over time seems to have defied all solutions. We are talking about the latest discovery of an oral drug made from plants extraction in Nigeria for the possible cure for the pandemic, HIV and AIDS virus."
He said the research on the project was started in 2010 and culminated in the development of "Deconcotion X (DX)–Liquid or Bioclean 11 for the cure of HIV and AIDS".
"The existing retroviral drugs are intervention drugs for the management of AIDS but our new discovery is a possible cure. We have tried to look at the product first; its toxicological analysis and discovered that it has a large safety margin.
"This means that if animals or human beings are exposed to it, they will not suffer any serious harm at all from the exposure. It also helped us to know the quantity we can conveniently give to animals and will feel secure that nothing untoward will happen.
"We have also done the bacteriological analysis on it, after which we looked at its effect on the virus and the result was quite revealing and refreshing.''
Ibeh also said that the drug had been exposed to series of medical examination both in Nigeria and in the U.S.A. He added that the drug had performed well on patients with the HIV virus and had shown evidence of total restoration of damaged tissues."
Pate told The Guardian, "I also saw this latest claim of cure for HIV in the media. As you know there are well established standards required of evidence to support claims in orthodox medicine regarding new technologies, treatments or processes. I am not aware of the evidence behind this latest claim.
"If the scientist making this claim wishes to take this further constructively there are established fora and avenues for doing so, the FMOH's NIPRID, NIMR and NAFDAC are each ready to appropriately support indigenous Nigerian scientists, who have something to offer.
"We are proud of our medical, biomedical and pharmaceutical scientists both at home and abroad. But we should also maintain highest levels of integrity and standards in application of science for the betterment mankind," he said.
Idoko also called for serious caution in the acclaimed cure for HIV to avoid the mistakes of the past when Nigeria was brought o international ridicule.
He told The Source, "the process of identifying a drug that cures HIV takes years. We need scientific proof and evidence before we go to town.
"Nobody in the world has cure for HIV. We need to be cautious not to report the mistakes of the past. You need a minimum of 10 to 15 years for a vaccine or drug. Nobody can work into the bush and grab anything and say it is HIV cure."
Responding to the claim in a chat with The Guardian, Onifade called on Nigeria not to rush into taking the 'cure' claim seriously until internationally recognised protocol are seen to have been followed and the 'cure' certified as such.
Diran, who is a Knight Science Journalism Fellow of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States, stressed, " I have a responsibility here as president of the African Federation of Science Journalists and former VP of WFSJ. Let me say, the report did not tell us the exact context of Ibeh's announcement. In reporting inventions, the context is what counts the most.
"The proper place to announce something as ground-breaking as a cure for HIV/AIDS is a credible platform such as a scientific conference or a peer reviewed journal. But certainly not a press conference or a one-on-one with any media house, I advise caution so we don't have another 'Abalaka' episode in our hands. I stand by that."
In a document, ethical considerations in HIV preventive vaccine research, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) also detailed out how every vaccine search should undergo a rigourous standard procedure.
The document obtained by The Guardian noted, "as the number of people infected by HIV and dying from AIDS increases, the need for an effective HIV preventive vaccine becomes more urgent.
Developing such a vaccine will require an extensive international cooperative effort, drawing on partners from various health sectors, governments, intergovernmental organisations, research institutions, industries and affected populations.
These partners will also be required to address the difficult ethical concerns involved in the development of HIV vaccines.
This document highlights some of the critical elements that must be considered in HIV vaccine development activities. It suggests standards, as well as, processes for arriving at standards, and can be used as a frame of reference from which to conduct international, national and local-level discussions.
"Given the global nature of the epidemic, the devastation being wreaked in some countries by it, the fact that vaccine(s) may be the best long term solution by which to control the epidemic, especially in developing countries, and the potentially universal benefits of effective HIV vaccines, there is an ethical imperative for global support to the effort to develop these vaccines.
This effort will require intense international collaboration and co-ordination over time, including among countries with scientific expertise and resources, and among countries where candidate vaccines could be tested but whose infrastructure, resource base, and scientific and ethical capacities could be insufficient at present.
Though HIV vaccines should benefit all those in need, it is imperative that they benefit the populations at greatest risk of infection. Thus, HIV vaccine development should ensure that the vaccines are appropriate for use among such populations, among which it will be necessary to conduct trials, and when developed, they should be made available and affordable to such populations."
It went on, "because HIV vaccine development activities take time, are complex and require infrastructure, resources and international collaboration, potential sponsor countries and host countries should immediately include HIV vaccine development in their regional and national AIDS prevention and control plans.
"Potential host countries should assess how they can and should participate in HIV vaccine development activities either nationally or on a regional basis, including identifying resources, establishing partnerships, conducting national information campaigns, strengthening their scientific and ethical sectors, and including a vaccine research component to complement other prevention interventions." (31)
naija2day
that would make all HIV patients happy.i hope it is true