South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - April 3, 2003

Making the announcement on Thursday, Medical School dean Professor Barry Kistnasamy said the university had accepted a brief from Hivex Ltd, a medical technology company.

The treatment, which does not use any drugs, involves the use of electro-magnetic technology similar to cellphones.

"Our brief is to judge if this treatment can be used to fight HIV/Aids," he said.

Hivex CEO Cameron Scott said the treatment was created by Russian scientists but was never tested in a controlled scientific way.

The project has received funding of US3-million (about R23,7-million) from BAE systems.

BAE Systems executive director Bernard Collier said the project would benefit South Africa's economy. BAE systems is producing an order of Hawk and Gripen aircraft for the SA Airforce.

All three partners stressed that the University's research would be conducted independently of Hivex Ltd and BAE.

"We are conducting these trials under precisely the same strict scientific conditions we apply to all clinical trials and research, regardless of who has conducted or financed the research and development of the proposed treatment," Kistnasamy said.

Scott said: "We will accept without reservation the results of the trials they conduct."

The electro-magnetic treatment uses a device that emits radio frequency in the spectrum of cellphone emissions, said Professor Umesh Lalloo, Head of Department of Medicine at the University.

"The patient would sit in a room for some time absorbing these emissions. Tests would then be done to determine the effect it had on the person."

Lalloo said patients who wanted to take part in the trial would be advised to take antiretrovirals if they were available to them.

"We will explain the procedure to them and ensure they have time to consider whether they want to take part or not," he said.

Stressing that at this stage everything was speculation, Lalloo said:" We anticipate that the treatment would disrupt the virus and stop it replicating".

Asked if the Health Department was involved in the project, Kistnasamy said: "We approached the department in Pretoria and were directed to the Radiation Control Authority, who gave us a limited licence to conduct these trials."

The council is involved in monitoring X-Ray machines and other medical equipment.

The Medicines Control Council only deals with pharmaceutical drugs not medical devices, he said.

The research would be monitored and peer-reviewed by the University's Ethics Committee, made up of a panel of medical experts from South African, American, Canadian and Hungarian universities.

Any adverse effects experienced by the patients would have to be reported to the ethics committee.

The trials are expected to be completed by the end of the year./sbm

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