New Aids drug lined up by Zimbabwean govt
09/07/2008
Zimbabwe is planning to introduce a new lifesaving drug for Aids patients that could dramatically boost their survival rates.
Health and child welfare minister David Parirenyatwa announced this week that isoniazide would be made available to people living with Aids in the impoverished country.
The drug is intended to minimise the risk of HIV-positive people contracting tuberculosis (TB), which presently accounts for more Aids-related deaths than any other illness.
"We are very worried about co-infection - a situation where HIV and Aids patients are infected with other diseases - and tuberculosis in particular, given its devastating effects on them," Dr Parirenyatwa commented.
At least 70 per cent of people living with TB are HIV positive and the UN has warned that the disease - which claims about two million lives each year - is holding back progress against Aids.
Commenting on his own country's efforts to combat the double-edged sword of HIV and TB co-infection, Dr Parirenyatwa said Zimbabwe would adopt a comprehensive strategy.
"We are going to train our staff throughout the country who are going to administer the drug before we introduce it," he explained. "We are also going to put in place a policy framework for the drug."
The new focus follows a similar move by India, which recently revealed that TB is responsible for killing sixty per cent of HIV patients who succumb to Aids-related illnesses.
In June, the Zimbabwean government reversed a ban placed on HIV charities operating in the country. It had accused the groups of political activism - a charge which they denied.
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