Stop HIV/AIDS adverts, media urged

Tue, 20 Jun 2017 13:49:34 +0000

By SIMON MUNTEMBA

 STOP advertising claims of HIV/AIDS medicines and cure as a way of curbing the illicit selling of drugs to unsuspecting people, the Zambia Medicines Regulatory Authority (ZAMRA) has appealed to the media in Zambia.

In an interview with the Daily Nation yesterday, ZAMRA public relations officer Ludovic Mwape said there was no proven herbal medicine that could cure HIV virus yet.

He said there was need for the media to ensure that they advertised only scientifically proven medicines to ensure the issue of illicit selling of drugs was halted.

Mr Mwape also urged media houses in Zambia to seek advice from relevant Government, parastatal or professional body on new research findings or medicines related to the purported cure of HIV/AIDS.

He said the media should help disseminate information to the public that there was no cure yet for HIV/AIDS.

Mr Mwape stated that there were long established, tried and tested routes for the discovery, development and validation of modern medicines before they could be registered and used for treatment in humans and animals.

And Mr Mwape said that his authority had noted with sadness on the escalating high levels of people claiming to cure HIV/AIDS.

ZAMRA says there was no medicine yet proven to have the safety and efficacy to cure HIV/AIDS as claimed by those selling the drugs.

Said Mr Mwape: “We are concerned that the publicity given to these claims will stop patients with HIV from taking life-saving antiretrovirals and give them false hope of a cure.

“It will be a great disservice to this vulnerable group of patients for the media to disseminate these claims in the absence of sound scientific evidence.

“There are long established, tried and tested routes for the discovery, development and validation of modern medicines before they can be registered and used for treatment in humans and animals.  “We call on all patients living with HIV that are currently taking their medications to continue to do so and to see their doctors if they have any concern, otherwise, there is no cure yet for HIV/AIDS,” he said.

And Minister of Health Chitalu Chilufya said in Parliament on Friday that Government had not verified any claims of an HIV/AIDS cure and medicines for changing the status of body organs but has advised all stakeholders with such claims, including traditional health practitioners, to voluntarily take their commodities to the ministry for research to determine their efficacy.

Dr Chilufya was responding to a question by Luangeni Member of Parliament Charles Zulu (PF), who wanted to know if Government approved of the advertising of such claims.

Dr Chilufya said that people with such claims were generally unwilling to take their products to the ministry for assessment.

“The Zambia Medicines Regulatory Authority (ZAMRA) has been undertaking a number of activities to curtail the practice in order to protect the public. Although the practice is still on-going, there has been a major reduction in advertising in print and electronic media,” Dr Chilufya said.