HIV and AIDS in the media: A wrap of the latest news
An inmate refuses to take antiretroviral treatment, allegedly because the minister of health said they were bad for you and give you side effects, AIDS is on the rise among South Africa’s rich and the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) wants the Medicines Control Council (MCC) to fast track the registration of one of the “safest” antiretrovirals on the market. South Africa has announced an HIV vaccine trial on the heels of the failure of a microbicide trial being halted. These were some eye-catching HIV and AIDS-related headlines in the media this past week.
The fight for prisons to supply inmates with ART reached a bitter zenith last year when the AIDS Law Project took the Department of Correctional Services to court on behalf of the famous Westville 13 (and won) and Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) Chairperson Zackie Achmat demanded that Ngconde Balfour be charged with genocide. Now, according to Sapa, an inmate at the C-Max prison is being offered these life-lengthening drugs and he refuses them on the grounds of them being “dangerous and having side effects”.
Instead the inmate wants to go home and die in dignity. The Correctional Services Act makes provision for prisoners to die with dignity and be with their families and so a medical parole board has been commissioned to look at this inmate’s case.
“It is my opinion that my HIV status is turning into full-blown AIDS and that my life expectancy is limited,” he said.
Also making headlines was the fact that HIV infection was on the rise among the country’s rich and professionals. Reuters reported that a recent study done by the Markinor polling firm and the University of South Africa (Unisa) shows a rapid increase in HIV infections in professional people and those with full-time employment. Carel van Aardt of Unisa’s Bureau of Marketing Research said:
“The high-risk group is growing; it is getting older and it is getting richer, this could represent a whole new wave of the epidemic.”
The study found that AIDS incidence grew from 6.2% in 2002 to 8.3% in 2004 among professionals. In people with full-time jobs, who account for about half of the working population, the estimated HIV prevalence rose to 19.2% in 2005 from 14.4% in 2002.
This development suggests arrogance or ignorance by South Africa’s rich towards safe sex. Why else would people who are educated and with means to preventative measures start getting infected? As Markinor’s Tracy Hammond says:
“This time it is not the employees, it is the employers. It is not the people without bank accounts; it is the people who make investments. If we thought the AIDS epidemic was having bad economic effects already, this could take us to the crisis point.”
Finally, an item that caught my eye was the Mail&Guardian Online article, “MCC stalls new Aids drugs”. Apparently, South African’s have been denied the “biggest advance” in antiretroviral therapy because of a “lack of urgency in the drug registration process” in this country.
The TAC is calling for the urgent registration of Tenofovir, which is considered one of the safest antiretroviral drugs, and needs to be taken only once a day. Tenofovir was submitted to the MCC in 2005 for registration but nothing has happened.
What is unfair, however, is that the drug is available for use in the private sector under a clause that allows use of unregistered drugs on “named patient and named doctor” basis. But because it is unregistered it cannot be included in the government’s national HIV treatment guidelines, which means that one of the safest drugs on the market is not available to the masses.
Head of the Southern Africa HIV Clinicians’ Society, Dr Francois Venter, is one of the drug’s enthusiasts, and is convinced it would bring a new dimension to HIV treatment:
“Tenofovir has been the biggest stride forward in antiretroviral drug development for the last few years. If we could get this drug registered fast, it would be of huge benefit to many South Africans needing or on treatment. People with side effects could substitute with Tenofovir. People starting antiretrovirals could even commence on Tenofovir, in conjunction with other antiretrovirals, and avoid the risk of the side effects we see with the other drugs.”
In a disappointing turn of events, Sapa reported that 20 women tested HIV-positive after a microbicide trial. The purpose of the microbicide clinical trials was to test the effectiveness of a vaginal microbicide gel in preventing the sexual transmission of HIV. Medical Research Council president Anthony Mbewu said:
“We are not certain yet whether these women became HIV-positive as a result of the use of the microbicide, and this is being investigated. We have asked all participants to stop using the anti-Aids gel after preliminary results of the study showed a potential to increase the risk of HIV infection instead of lowering it.” As Mark Heywood of the TAC pointed out on SAfm this week, it is encouraging that at least our ethics protocols seem jacked up enough to stop a potentially dangerous trial quickly.
Now, the South African Aids Vaccine Initiative (Savvi) has embarked on what is said to be the “most promising” test vaccine currently available, MRKAd5, I-Net Bridge reported. Successful tests of this vaccine have already been conducted in the USA and South America. The question 3 000 volunteers will provide an answer for is: Can it work on the HI0virus subtype that is prevalent in Southern and East Africa. South Africa has its fingers crossed? – Akhona Cira