AIDS cure claim by
UNIBEN don
JANUARY 11, 2013 BY FRIDAY
OLOKOR, ABUJA 5 COMMENTS
Director General of NAFDAC, Dr
Paul Orhii
| credits:
National Agency for Food and Drugs
Administration and Control has begun
a probe into Prof. Isaiah Ibeh’s claim
on Tuesday that he had discovered a
herbal drug capable of curing AIDS.
Reports quoted the Dean of Basic
Medical Sciences, University of Benin
as saying the drug had undergone “a
series of successful tests”.
The Director-General of NAFDAC, Dr.
Paul Orhii, who addressed a media
conference in Abuja on Thursday, said
the agency had invited Ibeh to prove
his claim. He warned members of the
public against buying the drug
because it had not been subjected to
standard scientific protocols.
He said the don was wrong going
public, saying it was the duty of the
Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi
Chukwu, to make the announcement
after tests by NAFDAC.
Orhii said the product was never
brought to his agency for vetting and
neither was it subjected to any
institutional scrutiny.
He said, “I wish to caution other
persons who might want to follow in
the footsteps of Prof. Isaiah Ibeh in
making public claims for products
whose safety and efficiency have not
been scientifically proved to desist
from such acts .
“There is a procedure laid down for
determining the efficacy and safety of
new medicines and this must be
strictly adhered to.
“We have started by disassociating
ourselves from the so-called cure. We
will decide the appropriate sanction.
We have invited him for further
investigation. If our laws don’t have
appropriate punishment for such
persons who don’t follow scientific
protocols in making such
pronouncements, we will review the
law and ensure that such does not
occur again.”
Orhii added, “The agency wishes to
state that this herbal drug, which he
claimed to have undergone a series of
successful tests, has never been
presented to NAFDAC for evaluation of
efficacy and safety.
“This bogus claim of efficacy without
following the appropriate procedure
for drug evaluation is capable of
misleading the public, especially those
that have HIV/AIDs infection as there
is no known official or scientifically
proven cure for HIV/AIDS infection till
date.
“You may recall that Nigeria was
inundated with similar spurious
claims in the past when individuals
announced cure for HIV/AIDS,
hepatitis and diabetes, which later
turned out to be false after thorough
investigations. This is usually at the
expense of innocent citizens, who
have risked their lives, wasted their
time and money in search of the
elusive cure for their ailments.
Nigerians deserve better than to be
used as Guinea pigs, no matter how
noble the intention of the researcher.
“Also recall that in September 2011,
NAFDAC arrested the Managing
Director of Winners Medical
Diagnostics and Research Institute, Dr.
Jacob Abdullahi, for dealing in expired
medicines claimed to be cure for HIV.
“Similarly, in November 2011, one Dr.
P.S.A. Bondima Young of Bondima
Hepatoviral Centre, Jos was
apprehended by NAFDAC for
administering unregistered drugs on
patients for the treatment of
hepatiti
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