The Zambian government announced on Friday that a much-trumpeted Aids cure that a local businessman claimed to have discovered has been found to be a pesticide used to clean swimming pools.
Tetrasil, a drug which is being promoted by a newspaper proprietor, is a pesticide that was used as a disinfectant, said Albert Mwango, a government specialist in Aids drugs.
“This chemical has not been proven by any scientific means that it cures Aids,” Mwango was quoted by a state-run newspaper as having told Parliament.
“But what has been proven is that it is a pesticide, which was used to disinfect swimming pools,” Mwango was further quoted by the Zambia Daily Mail.
Edgar Ngoma, owner of the Weekly Angels newspaper, has been running a series of stories claiming he and his partner in the United States had found the cure for Aids.
“We have a duty to protect lives of our citizens. For a drug to be ingested it has to be certified by the Pharmaceuticals Regulatory Authority,” said Simon Miti, a Ministry of Health secretary.
Miti, who was also summoned to Parliament to explain the proclaimed Aids cure, said his government had written to Ngoma to follow procedures before he could start administering Tetrasil to HIV carriers.
The Treatment Advocacy Literacy Campaign (Talc), which represents HIV/Aids patients, lodged a complaint with the government asking for the ban on Tetrasil because some patients were abandoning taking antiretroviral drugs for the so-called cure.
“This researcher [Ngoma] has gone ahead to inject people with the drug before clinical trials are conducted,” said Felix Mwanza, Talc programmes manager. — AFP