Researchers launch new HIV/Aids drug

Researchers have launched a new drug that could help prolong the lives of people living with HIV and Aids.

The drug known as Iquilai boosts the body’s immune system and supports the natural healing process for Aids patients.

The research was conducted in Kisumu for three years by an international research body, Aids Remedy Fund (ARF) in collaboration with Ganjoni Medical Centre, a local NGO.

Lead researchers, Dr James Ombaka, executive director of Ganjoni and ARF Managing Director Leo Van Gelder told The Standard Iquilai helps to fight infections, lack of appetite, emaciation and weakness.

Restores balance

"The Iquilai is a potentised natural remedy. It has been found to be effective in the treatment of HIV and Aids since it restores the balance of minerals," said Ombaka.

Gelder explained that the mineral balancing was essential to ensure there is no lack or abundance of vital minerals in the body.

"Mineral imbalances are inter- connected with imbalances in the immune system and this helps to reduce insufficiency of the immune system, which is Aids," Gelder explained.

Restoring the balance in the mineral content goes together with the balancing of the mental and emotional state.

The remedy, the researchers disclosed, focused on returning the body to its natural state of balance.

Pilot study

They were speaking during an HIV and Aids symposium in Kisumu town, to launch the drug after conducting a pilot study that they claimed yielded positive results in Nyanza.

Study into the efficacy of the drug was set up in 2006 in western Kenya. Some 250 HIV and Aids patients were put on Iquilai.

This took place within the existing ‘home based care’ programme run by Ombaka, a dermatologist and microbiologist at the Ganjoni Hospital in Mombasa.

"The results were very promising.More than 95 per cent of the patients reacted positively," said Gelder.

The patient population comprised patients on ARV treatment and those not undergoing any ARV therapy.

Majority of the patients were in the advanced stage of Aids (stages three and four according to the WHO classification).

Source : www.eastandard.net