Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2000. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - November 15, 2000
Steven Swindells, Johannesburg
The regulatory Medicines Control Council (MCC) approved and registered the anti-retroviral drug Combivir, a mix of zidovudine (AZT) and lamivudine (3TC), earlier this month. It will be available in pharmacies next week, says British drug giant Glaxo Wellcome.
It was the first reaffirmation of the efficacy of AZT compounds by an official medical body since President Thabo Mbeki sparked worldwide controversy by questioning the widely held belief that the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) causes Aids and appointing so-called "Aids dissidents" to his advisory panel on the disease.
"It's a strong endorsement by a respectable body...The MCC doesn't have a problem with the efficacy of the drug. It invalidates what was said," said Dr Peter Moore, Medical Director of Glaxo Wellcome South Africa.
Mbeki was caught in a firestorm of international scientific and diplomatic criticism after casting doubt on AZT and denying it to pregnant women and rape victims in the financially over-stretched public health system.
Although South Africa is at the epicentre of the global Aids crisis - 4.2 million or one in 10 South Africans are HIV-positive - AZT has been officially available only in the private sector since its local registration 11 years ago.
Negotiations between South African authorities and Glaxo to register Combivir, already available throughout Europe and the United States, took one month short of three years.
Pretoria has extended trials of the drug nevirapine in the fight against mother-to-child transmission of HIV-Aids but envisages a limited role for anti-retrovirals in public health policy.
AZT is currently used by around 3 000 South Africans who are either HIV-positive, pregnant or health workers since it was registered in 1989.
Business has also moved to offer AZT despite the government's strong stance against the drug, which emerged as the first anti-Aids drug when the US Food and Drug Administration approved it in 1987.
The country's largest supermarket chain Pick & Pay last month offered AZT to its 30 000 employees, the first such move by a major private South African firm.
001115
MG001102
Copyright © 2000 - Daily Mail & Guardian. For information about the content or for permission to redistribute, publish or use for broadcast, contact the publisher.
AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted funding from Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Elton John AIDS Foundation, the National Library of Medicine, Pacific Life Foundation and donations from users like you.
Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2000. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.
Copyright ©1980, 2000. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .