AFRICANEWS

Zimbabwe

Chinese 'AIDS' drug sparks controversy

HIV/AIDS

An herbal drug developed in China is being reported to have the capacity to cure AIDS. Traditional healers in Zimbabwe are busy selling it, but some people have expressed doubts on its effectiveness.

A Chinese herbal medicine developed by the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences in 1996 has generated controversy in Zimbabwe with health officials differing on whether the drug has any effect on HIV/AIDS. The drug, Mocrea, is being distributed in the country by a retired national army colonel, Richard Ngwenya who is also a traditional healer, through a local company called James Mobbs which specialises in herbal medication.

Mocrea, which comes in capsule form, is said to have been used in the treatment of HIV/AIDS and is said to contain amino acids, vitamins and trace elements. Ngwenya, with the support of the Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers Association (ZINATHA), claims that the drug has had a 95 percent success rate in reversing HIV symptoms in 45,000 people he has attended to since James Mobbs was opened in 1997. ZINATHA screens, registers and monitors the operations of witch doctors, sorcerers and faith healers in the country. A course of this drug consists of 60 tablets taken twice a day with food. It is said to improve one's appetite.

Ngwenya has refused to acknowledge the existence of HIV/AIDS tending rather to attribute the disease to chemicals, which resulted in people's immunity system weakening. He cites the reported alteration of the disease Anthrax in the laboratories during Zimbabwe's liberation war resulting in the disease affecting people. Ngwenya told AfricaNews that "the so-called HIV/AIDS is just some fungus infection that can be eradicated by taking Mocrea. And if one strengthens his immunity system one can live forever."

But the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare has refused to accept the drug labeling it as useless adding that there is no cure for the disease. Through its Drug Control Council, a department that regulates and registers drugs in the country, it dismissed the drug as a mere "tonic drink." "No scientific proof has been presented to the Ministry to show that Mocrea is effective," says Timothy Stamps, the Health and Child Welfare minister. "We need to know about its effectiveness and whether it has any side effects or not and all these issues have not been addressed, yet the drug is already in circulation." Since the drug is being sold in a capsule form, the ministry argues, then it has to be tested and approved by the Drug Control Council. But Ngwenya insists that Mocrea is a drug in the traditional medicine category hence it does not have to go through the Drug Control Council, which deals with processed drugs.

The ministry has so far launched a campaign to ban the drug from being advertised in both the print and electronic media. In February, Stamps, deeply affected by an advert in a local weekly proclaiming the success rate of Mocrea, issued out a stern warning in a government owned daily paper for the public to vindicate themselves against false hope. However, most Zimbabweans have faith in the drug and it is a common belief in the country that anyone who is still healthy looking is taking Mocrea. "Mocrea is Power", has become one of the country most popular writings on T-Shirts. The warning by the minister came at a time Zimbabwe, is experiencing an advent of traditional and faith healers who have raised hopes of people with HIV/AIDS by claiming they have found a cure for the disease.

The most prominent claimants are Benjamin Burombo, a traditional healer, and a faith healer Boniface Muponda. Burombo says he has come up with a cocktail that removes the virus from the human body. His claims have not been proved but he says last year three of his patients tested negative at a local health centre after they had turned full-blown AIDS and had taken his medication. Muponda, on the other hand, boasts of a clientele base that has covered the whole of southern Africa and also stretching to countries like Denmark, Netherlands and Brazil. He says his powers lie in Holy Water.

The ruling Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF)'s central committee has also taken Stamps to task over his stance over the drug. The committee has asked the ministry not be selective but give people access to as many drugs as possible. It has also called on the government to remove duty charged on medicinal drugs, leading to confusion within government circles. However, the health ministry estimates that over 30 percent of Zimbabwe's population of 12.5 million live with HIV/AIDS, yet the government is accused of having been slow in introducing measures to curtail the spread of the disease. It has also been slow in approving the use of other intravenal drugs such as AZT. The government has, however, introduced a levy to assist those living with the disease.

Meanwhile Ngwenya insists that Mocrea is not a cure but just enhances the immunity system. "What Mocrea does is to boost the levels of immunity. We have found a traditional medicine that changes people's lives." He argues that the capsule is most effective when used soon after the early signs of ill health emerge. He says for the drug to be effective people taking it must desist from taking red meat, any food stuff that contains starch and milk products. Fruits especially oranges, according to Ngwenya, should be avoided as they are acidic. "If you bring a relative in hospital fruits, know that you are signing his or her death certificate," says Ngwenya.

Tobaiwa Ngara has been taking Mocrea. Signs of ill health are fast disappearing from his body following Ngwenya's dietary recommendations in the past two years. He says that when a friend recommended him to Ngwenya's clinic, his life was fast wasting away and he had lost all his hair and had transformed into a skeleton because of the weight he had lost. "Mocrea has given me a new lease of life," says Ngara. A University of Zimbabwe pharmacology professor, Mzuru Gundidza, himself a practicing traditional healer, considers Mocrea the most effective herbal medicine on the market. He says he has lots of patients who took the drug and had clinically improved and were now able to carry on with their lives. A former deputy minister of Health, Tsvungirirai Hungwe says two of her relatives who had been diagnosed HIV positive have recovered and are health looking after taking Mocrea.

But Norman Nyazema, another University of Zimbabwe pharmacology professor has described these two claims by Gundidza and Hungwe, as "unfortunate and highly irresponsible especially when coming from a former minister and a university professor". "In science we don't rely on anecdotes but on observations," says Nyazema. "Who knows in the first place that the people mentioned were HIV positive in the first place.”? A former secretary in the health ministry, Rufaro Chatora concurs: "The public should always be on the look out for such claims and avoid wasting their hard earned resources on medicines which have not yet been shown to be effective. Nyazema says there has not been enough information about the drug in the first place and calls on the need for tests to be carried out. He also questions the involvement of ZINATHA saying the association should only be catering for traditional medicine that comes from Zimbabwe and not outside.

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