Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2001. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Bangkok Post - July 6,2001
Aphaluck Bhatiasevi and Onnucha Hutasingh
The delay was necessary due to the appointment of another special committee to consider the issue, said Dr Somsong Rakphao, head of the Communicable Diseases Control Department.
In order to ensure impartiality, he said, three committees would study the effect of the substance on HIV/Aids patients.
The first panel would set policies on further development of V-1 Immunitor, the second would collect blood samples from patients who had been on V-1 for at least six months, and the third would interpret test results, Dr Somsong said.
It was decided that at least 50 blood samples would be needed for testing. So far, only 40 samples have been collected.
The Salang Bunnag Foundation, which has distributed V-1 to thousands of HIV/Aids patients, promised to send in for testing another 10 patients, all of whom would have their viral load and white blood cell count compiled.
The third panel is not yet in place.
Pol Gen Salang Bunnag, head of the foundation, said he would stop giving any information on V-1 until the substance was considered by the responsible committee. However, its distribution would continue since there was still enough stock to last about 28 days.
He said production of the substance would also be halted until it received a permit from the Food and Drug Administration.
However, the FDA has already refused twice to grant Jirasathaporn Co, the V-1 supplier, a licence to produce the substance.
Pol Gen Salang said it was expected that the firm would be able to begin production within the next few months.
He said the foundation would today distribute V-1 at Wat Phra Bat Nam Phu, in Lop Buri, considered to be the country's biggest hospice for HIV/Aids sufferers.
Next Wednesday, foundation workers would give away V-1 Immunitor in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai in the North, before proceeding to Songkhla in the South, and later to other provinces in the East.
Pol Gen Salang said more than 20,000 HIV/Aids patients had already been given V-1, adding his foundation received some 300-500 letters seeking the substance daily.
"At least 20 people from Europe and the US have joined our project, and many others have shown their interest in getting the substance," he said.
He claimed investors from Russia and the Czech Republic hadalso shown interest in giving financial support.
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