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South Africa Still Doubts Value of AIDS Drug
August 1, 2003 By REUTERS PRETORIA, South Africa, July 31 (Reuters) - South Africa today repeated its concern about a drug that has been used to protect babies from AIDS, saying American researchers had raised similar doubts. The South African Medicines Control Council set off a dispute this week when it told a German drug maker, Boehringer Ingelheim that it had rejected a Ugandan study used to show the effectiveness of the drug, nevirapine, when used to block transmission from mother to child of the virus that causes AIDS. The council gave Boehringer 90 days to submit fresh information on safety and effectiveness or have the drug's approval revoked, a move that activists say would be a huge step backward for South Africa, where an estimated 4.7 million people are infected with the AIDS virus, the world's highest caseload. "I think they want to emphasize the same standards that apply to the developed world and the United States should apply to the developing world," the health minister, Dr. Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, said at a news conference. "We can't have double standards. We can't have something that's only good for Africa and not good for developed countries." The minister is embroiled in a feud with AIDS activists over the government's reluctance to provide antiretroviral drugs. Last year a court ordered South Africa's government to provide nevirapine to pregnant H.I.V.-positive mothers and their babies at all public hospitals. AIDS activists say they believe the order would also require the government to provide alternative treatment if nevirapine were banned. Nevirapine has been approved by the World Health Organization, and American regulators and Boehringer have emphasized that they consider the drug neither unsafe nor ineffective. The medical council's concerns revolve around reporting and documentation in the 1999 Uganda trial, although no evidence was found to indicate that its conclusions were invalid or that any of the participants had been placed at an increased risk. American regulators raised similar doubts last year, and Boehringer dropped plans to seek permission to widen marketing of nevirapine in the United States. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/01/international/africa/01AIDS.html?ex=1060756494&ei=1&en=e9ae2060b530335f --------------------------------- Get Home Delivery of The New York Times Newspaper. Imagine reading The New York Times any time & anywhere you like! Leisurely catch up on events & expand your horizons. Enjoy now for 50% off Home Delivery! Click here: http://www.nytimes.com/ads/nytcirc/index.html HOW TO ADVERTISE --------------------------------- For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Copyright 2003 The New York Times CompanyProtect your PC - Click here for McAfee.com VirusScan Online
