Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Bangkok Post - September 13, 2006
Apiradee Treerutkuarkul
Known as SH, the medicine is a combination of two local herbs - Cortex Mori and Flos Carthami - and three from China - Radix Astragali, Radix Glycyrrhizae and Herba Artemisiae Scopariae.
Registered as a traditional medicine with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), it is the first to have shown preliminary scientific evidence of boosting the immune system of HIV-positive people.
"The research results showed that the herbal medicine can improve the level of antibodies in HIV-positive people who have not yet shown symptoms [of Aids]," said Virat Klinbuayaem, a doctor at Sanpatong Hospital in Chiang Mai and leader of the research project.
Following one year, small-scale clinical trials in Chiang Mai and Lamphun ending in August 2003, the study showed that the traditional medicine was effective when used in combination with anti-retroviral treatment, he said.
The research project was jointly undertaken by Thailand's Department of Medical Sciences and China's Kunming Institute of Botany to support national policy in combating HIV/Aids.
Sixty HIV-positive volunteers were recruited from the outpatients department.
Despite having conducted the scientific study on the effectiveness of the herbal medicine, Dr Virat said the scale of the study was still too small and that further experiments were required to confirm that herbal medicines could really boost the immune systems of HIV-positive patients. Research and development of herbal medicines in the country also needed to be enhanced.
However, he believed there was no harm in HIV-positive patients taking traditional herbal remedies if they were unable to obtain GPO-VIR, a generic anti-retroviral treatment.
"Although there is no sound scientific proof of the effectiveness of herbal medicine in curing HIV/Aids, at least it can be an alternative for HIV-positive people thinking about their survival and seeking medicinal treatment to boost their physical and mental health," he said.
In line with Public Health Ministry requirements, only HIV-positive patients with a CD4 count (a measure of the amount of HIV in the blood) of less than 200 are eligible to get free anti-Aids medicine under the 30-baht health scheme.
The local generic cocktail, GPO-VIR, costs between 1,200-1,500 baht depending on patient symptoms. The Government Pharmaceutical Organisation has distributed it free of charge to about 50,000 HIV patients. The drug consists of Starvudine, Lamivudine and Navirapine.
There are about 800,000 HIV-infected people in Thailand, around 200,000-300,000 of whom are in serious condition who need to be treated with anti-retroviral drugs.
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