Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Associated Press - December 17, 2004
Geoffrey Muleme, Associated Press Writer
Scientists, however, don't know the possible long-term effects on the women, said Dr. Philippa Musoke.
"Resistance does occur, but it fades after one year," Musoke said, noting the study done in Uganda looked only at mother-child HIV transmission based on a one-dose regime.
AIDS researchers in Africa have suggested emerging data shows resistance to nevirapine might lessen over time.
United Nations health and AIDS agencies "agree that we continue to use nevirapine for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission until we have more data that proves that people do not do well when nevirapine is used again for treatment," Musoke said.
Uganda will distribute the drug "for the time being until we get an alternative," Musoke said.
The drug, made by Boehringer Ingelheim and tested at Mulago Hospital, has been touted as a key way to prevent HIV-positive mothers from infecting their children. Studies have shown a single dose of nevirapine to an infected woman during labor and another dose to her newborn can reduce the chances of HIV transmission by up to 50 percent. Nevirapine is also used with other drugs to prolong the lives of AIDS patients.
Documents uncovered by The Associated Press at the U.S. National Institute of Health have called into question the accuracy of nevirapine tests conducted in Uganda, however.
In a letter obtained by the AP, U.S. health officials told Uganda's government in July 2002 that the U.S.-funded study on nevirapine violated federal safety rules. But those same officials didn't tell President Bush about the problems before he authorized shipping the drug to Africa a few months later.
In their review of the nevirapine testing in Uganda, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Human Research Protections identified nearly nine pages of problems with the research, including violations of U.S. patient protection rules.
On Tuesday, the White House said it remains confident in Bush's $500 million plan to send nevirapine to Africa, a continent that accounts for more than two-thirds of the world's AIDS cases, with 27 million people infected.
President Yoweri Museveni has been in power since his forces won a civil war in 1986. The fact that Uganda was the first country in the world to show a decrease in HIV infections has been a great source of pride for him.
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