Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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New Vision (Kampala) - March 1, 2006
Elvis Basudde
The ministry is sponsoring 50 patients for Khomein treatment. The patients are undergoing tests at the Joint Clinical Research Centre in Mengo to establish their HIV status, CD4 counts, viral load and renal and liver function, to see if they benefited from the medicine. The results are expected this month.
When Iranian professor Elahi Allahgholi claimed to cure HIV/AIDS, TB and cancer using Khomein, many patients rushed there and returned with exciting stories. The media reported the cure claims, prompting the health ministry to intervene. An evaluation committee comprising 11 experts was formed to determine the nature of Khomein medicine.
"We want to find out whether Khomein is a drug or herb and whether it expels HIV from the body," said Dr. Jacinto Amandwa, the commissioner for clinical services at the ministry.
Amandwa said they were still scrutinising preliminary results and would announce them within three weeks.
Khomein, named after the revolutionary Iran founder Ayatollah Khomein, was introduced in Uganda in 2004. Siraj Balinda, IEIIDE's chief executive officer, says their first Ugandan patient, Amina Nassolo, 27, of Wankulukuku, tested negative at Kampala International Hospital, Rubaga and Mulago hospitals. Her latest test was carried out in December 2005 at the Aids Information Centre.
"Khomein is a one-time treatment. A patient takes 10 litres of Khomein daily for 35 days. It expels HIV from the body and the patient doesn't need any other HIV/AIDS treatment," Balinda says.
He says Khomein is a mixture of local herbs; ginger, lemon, mulondo and honey with an Iranian component.
"The price is high because the component we get from Iran, which is the real cure, is very expensive. The local herbs are used as supplements," he said, adding, " KhomeinI cures AIDS, KhomeinII is for TB, KhomeinIII is for cancer and AIDS while KhomeinIV is for cancer alone," Balinda further explains.
IEIIDE charges sh3m for HIV and TB treatment and sh5m for cancer. If the ministry approves the medicine, there is hope that its cost will be subsidised to make it affordable.
The science of how Khomein expels the virus from the body is still not very clear. Dr Sserwadda Kagimu Muzami, who is monitoring the 50 patients, says, "The patients are doing well.
Most of them have gained weight, their CD4 cell counts have improved and most of their opportunistic infections have cleared."
Sserwadda believes that Khomein has some very good effects. However, while Amandwa appreciates the results, he says it is wrong to say that the herb cures AIDS. "The herb may have good effects but the ministry needs scientific proof. We have to determine whether it is a drug or herb since the protocol for handling the two is different," he says.
Would Amandwa use Khomein if found HIV-positive? "No! I would not. Currently, there is no cure for HIV/AIDS. Anti-retroviral (ARVs) drugs are the recommended alternative for people living with HIV/AIDS," he says.
Balinda says people using Khomein do not need ARVs. "Our medicine cures HIV/AIDS. The patient rapidly recovers, all the symptoms recede and his/her health improves. He stops taking ARVs because he doesn't need them."
Elahi says he came to Uganda because it is at the vanguard of fighting HIV/AIDS and it has all the herbs needed for the formula. But if government policy on Khomein delays, he might relocate to South Africa where he is on demand.
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