AFRO-NETS> A new twist to the anti-HIV drugs for Africa saga (2)

["Vitalis Chipfakacha" <vchipfakacha@gov.bw>]

A new twist to the anti-HIV drugs for Africa saga (2)
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Dr Frank Baiden's wake up call has a frightening aspect for those Af-
rican countries contemplating the introduction of ARVs. What if the
drugs are not as efficacious on Africans as they are on our Europen
and American counterparts, are we not therefore going to waste much
needed resources in introducing these programmes? Further is it not
possible for drug manufacturing countries to test this hypothesis be-
fore it is too late. On the other hand just like the vaccine develop-
ment can drug tests be done on people with the types of viruses and
sub-types that are found in their regions.

I was also wondering whether the HIV-2 connection could be the prob-
lem here. We know that it is the most prevalent type in West Africa
and all the subjects were Ghanaians. By the way why did the research-
ers chose Ghanaians only, were there no other Africans besides
Ghanaians?

Finally, I agree whole-heartedly with Dr. Baiden, it is time we Afri-
cans did research in Africa to solve African problems. We need how-
ever recognition from our fellow Africans and the powers that be
(since that is where the problem usually lies)

Dr V. Chipfakacha
mailto: vchipfakacha@gov.bw


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