InterPress News Service (IPS); Monday, 11 March 1996.
Moyiga Nduru

Scientists and researchers in Kenya have been demanding proof of the authenticity of claims by Obel over his new wonder drug, Pearl Omega, which was hailed last week as a breakthrough in the cure for AIDS by a leading local newspaper.

Obel, who was linked to another home-developed anti-AIDS drug Kemron in 1989 which failed to prove its worth, claims that seven out of 32 of his HIV-positive patients which took his new drug became HIV-negative after an 18-month trial.

Stung by the criticism over Pearl Omega, Obel, a chief government scientist in President Daniel Moi's office, Monday held a public lecture in the school of medicine, University of Nairobi, to clear up the controversy.

But instead of trumpeting Pearl Omega as the new panacea, the bespectacled Obel accused the media of "putting words in people's mouths" and then admitted that there is no known cure for AIDS. Pearl Omega, he said, controls only the symptoms of the disease.

"My role is to alleviate the suffering of AIDS patients and to prolong their lives," he told a packed conference hall, made up mainly of medical students and researchers.

"In medicine," he said, "you don't aim to eradicate high blood pressure, asthma or diabetes. You just control them. And that's exactly what Pearl Omega is doing."

His lecture however was met with scepticism from the audience. "It's wrong to say you can't cure any disease. You can cure some, but you can't cure all. That's what we know in medical science," said Julius Memme, the director of the main Kenyata Hospital.

Prof Ndinya Achola, chairman of microbiology department at the school of medicine, questioned whether Obel's HIV-positive patients had indeed converted to HIV-negative over the trial period.

Unwilling to go into details, Obel snapped: "They are alive and well."

During the lecture, he pulled out a bottle of whisky in which he said was a liquefied sample of Pearl Omega whose chemical make- up or the way in which it works he refuses to divulge.

"I began using this drug in 1991 in clinical trial. Its very easy to covert the liquid into tablets, capsules, jelly and injectable forms," he explained. "But I get the best result when I use it in the liquid form".

Obel said he delivers a dose of 250 ml for 30 days, followed by 50ml daily as a maintenance dose which, he claimed, produces good results. "Pearl Omega keeps the skin plump and youthful looking."

His patients are all above 20-years-old weighing more than 50 kgs. "But I once included a fellow who weighed 45 kgs and within a few weeks of admission he tested HIV-negative," Obel insisted.

In a country like Kenya, where around five percent of the population is HIV-positive, any cure claim, however bogus, is likely to find willing buyers.

The government however, which had touted Kemron in the past, is this time trying to dampen hopes. Last week President Moi said there was no known cure for AIDS and instead urged Kenyans to behave "morally".

His statement was echoed by an assistant minister for health, Basil Criticos, who told a local paper that Pearl Omega was just one of several drugs being used to manage AIDS symptoms.

"The drug needs extensive tests which can take a period of not less than three years in order for it to be approved." He said even drugs certified in other countries had to be tested before being accepted for use in Kenya.

"These drugs include Kemron, Immunex, AZT, PMC-4 and more recently, Pearl Omega. Of these, Kemron and Pearl Omega have been developed by Kenyan researchers," said Fares Kuindwa, the secretary to the Cabinet and head of the public service.

Kuindwa said the government would continue to support and encourage local initiatives in the global effort to find a cure for AIDS.

He urged scientists and researchers to strictly observe professional ethics while undertaking these trials as stipulated by the ministry of health and the World Health Organisation.

He said that some of these drugs still on clinical tests had been made available to specific physicians who had been identified to undertake the trials and were, therefore, not widely available for sale.

Unphased by the doubts of the medical fraternity, Obel noted Pearl Omega was still in the early stage of development. "We are going to involve specialists in other fields to assist us," he said.

"We have opened the door and we are not going to close it," said Prof. Peter Odyambo, the dean of the school of medicine who organised the lecture Monday. "This is not the last discussion on HIV and it is not the last on Pearl Omega." (end/ips/mn/oa/96)

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