AIDS Commission criticized for ignoring "cure for HIV"

General News on Thursday, May 23, 2019

Source: Myjoyonline.com

2019-05-23

The Ghana AIDS Commission has been criticized for its attitude towards a Ghanaian researcher who claims to be on the cusp of finding a revolutionary cure for HIV / AIDS.

Professor Alexander Ocloo, an expert in medicinal plants, observed that the Commission insisted that there was no cure, despite the promising research, and that it was too reactionary.

"All we are doing now is that there is no cure, there is no cure," said the former executive director of the Herbal Therapy Research Center on Thursday in the Super Morning Show. from Joy FM.

Professor Ocloo wants the Commission to take a proactive approach by investigating the claims of the founder of the Center of Awareness, Dr. Samuel Ato Duncan.

The researcher says since 2012 that he has discovered a herbal medicine to suppress the HIV virus in the blood that weakens the immune system of its host until it is too weak to fight even a mild illness, causing death.

According to Dr. Duncan, his center called on the Noguchi Memorial Medical Research Institute (NMIMR), Ghana's leading biomedical research institute, in 2012 to test its product, COA FS.

"It was a great joy," said Dr. Duncan, noting that no product had reached such a milestone in vivo analysis for HIV / AIDS research. Dr. Duncan said that he then tested his work in South Africa with results that left his African research colleagues wondering and wondering about the lack of government support for his work.

"Ghana is sitting on a diamond mine … it's a serious breakthrough if we can get to the end of the canal," he said confidently in the medical progress of his center in the fight against HIV / AIDS.

The center has two medical products – COA FS and COA 72 – which, he said, do not treat HIV / AIDS, despite claims that it is advertised as a cure.

In a documentary, JoyNews revealed that some HIV-positive people have dropped out of antiretroviral therapy in favor of the announced promise of ACO products.

Prince Minkah of Luv FM found that the health of these people who depended exclusively on these products had deteriorated.

"COA FS is only an immune stimulant. You can never stop taking your antiretroviral drugs, "warned Dr. Duncan. He also explained that research that a potential treatment would not be used to produce COA products.

This research removes the amount of HIV virus in the blood while the COA FS, which is registered by the Food and Drugs Authority, only reinforces the immune system, he said.

"What the Center for Awareness claims is not on the market. HIV treatment is not on the market, "said the founder.

It took a "costly" investment of about $ 2 million to push and test the potential of his research, he said and praying that the government would be interested in moving its work forward.

The government should bring together scientists to contribute to future research, he urged. "We think that's the way forward," he said.

Kyeremeh Atuahene, Acting Executive Director of the Ghana AIDS Commission, said the Commission supports the use of herbal medicines in the fight against HIV / AIDS. He funded some of these companies and discovered that these drugs could treat infections that benefit the patient's weakened immune system.

He mentioned a potential cure discovered in another African country and tested in the United States. But he said there were no tests for the potential treatment of ACO.

Kyeremeh Atuahene complained, despite the term "great potential" of herbal medicine, to "never cooperate with the scientific community".

It would not reveal to what extent the Commission engaged the Outreach Center in its quest for a cure.

Taking advantage of the Commission's position, Professor Alexander Ocloo, however, said that all stakeholders should show keen interest in any claims for a cure for HIV / AIDS.

"We should be able to close the chapter as soon as possible," he said, which he saw as a staple for stakeholders in the event of a possible breakthrough.

Stakeholders such as the AIDS Commission should be able to come forward publicly if they discover that Dr. Duncan's research work does not contain any promise of healing.

The expert on medicinal plants pointed out that the World Health Organization had found that more than 70% of the population depended on herbal medicine.

"… So it's not enough to say that there is no cure," he said.

The Center for Plant Medicine Research has reviewed the COA FS and COA 72 to determine its levels of toxicity. For COA FS, the product is safe, while for the COA 72, the test performed only on animals shows that it is safe.

But there are other important clues to the products that remain to be determined. One of them is efficiency, he said.

Professor Alexander Ocloo called on the government to release resources for further testing and research on the healing potential of HIV / AIDS in Ghana.

"We have enough brains to discover everything we want to discover," he said.

The professor said that the history of science contained stories of people qualified as crazy for hypothesis, but that time justified them and that they are now a theory that works.

According to the regional director of Ashanti's national AIDS program, about 30 percent of people living with HIV stop taking antiretrovirals. They use herbal preparations, prayers of spiritualists and curious beers.

An HIV sentinel report for 2017 found that 13,000 adults and children over the age of 15 have died of AIDS in Ghana.

The widespread stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV in the general population who are perceived to be infected has been recognized as a barrier to finding health services such as HIV counseling and testing. adherence to antiretroviral treatment and access to support services.