Sunday Times, South Africa - August 20, 2000
Laurice Taitz
The use of the drug to prevent maternal transmission is one of several issues being discussed at a two-day meeting in Benoni between researchers and top officials including the health ministers of all nine provinces. The meeting ends today.
The data presented by the researchers is expected to break a policy deadlock reached two years ago when the then Minister of Health, Dr Nkosazana Zuma, announced her department's controversial decision not to implement a programme to prevent mothers passing on HIV to their babies with the more costly drug AZT - which can cut the transmission rate by half.
Speaking before the meeting, one of the researchers, Dr Glenda Gray from Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, said: "Our recommendations for future policy say that the use of Nevirapine at a cost of about R21 for treatment is safe, effective and easy to implement.
"Basically, it works, and we should be using it."
In his closing speech at the XIII International AIDS Conference in Durban in July, former President Nelson Mandela urged the government to implement such a programme.
The drug Nevirapine was thrust into the spotlight last year after research in Uganda showed it was cheaper and more effective than AZT in reducing the transmission of HIV from mother to child.
Clinical trials, called the Saint Trials, were conducted among 1 300 women at 11 South African research sites to test the drug's effectiveness in a local setting. Preliminary findings were presented to the Department of Health shortly before the Durban conference.
The researchers found the drug could save 20 000 babies out of the 60 000 infected with HIV each year.
Health officials at the AIDS conference raised concerns over reports that some pregnant women had developed a resistance to the drug. But Gray said on Friday: "While a percentage of women experienced resistance to the drug after six weeks, this disappeared a few months later. From this we have concluded that the issue of resistance is irrelevant to a woman's future pregnancy and to her future treatment options. . ."
Nevirapine was registered in South Africa as a treatment for adult HIV infections last year.
Boehringer Ingelheim, the drug's manufacturer, applied to the Medicines Control Council in March to register the drug for use in the prevention of mother-to-child transmissions. Council head Dr Helen Rees met researchers on Friday to discuss the drug's registration.
000813
ST000802
Copyright © 2000 - The Sunday Times. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the Sunday Times Permissions Desk.
AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted funding from Boehringer Ingelheim, Bridgestone/Firestone Charitable Trust, Elton John AIDS Foundation UK, the National Library of Medicine, AIDS Walk of Orange County, and donations from users like you.
Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2000. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.
Copyright ©1980, 2000. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .