•HIV/AIDS cure claims, like other scientific claims, must undergo global processes
IT is thought-provoking that the alleged discovery of a cure for HIV/ AIDS by a Nigerian scientist, Prof. Maduike Ezeibe, has been discredited by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). The agency concluded that “there is really no basis for a claim to cure of AIDS.”
This anticlimax followed an intervention by the health authorities. The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, had called for an investigation of the cure claim. “What we need to do is to make sure that things are done properly,” he said.
There is no doubt that a cure for HIV/AIDS would be appreciated in a country with an estimated three million people infected with the disease, the second highest number in the world after South Africa. The issue is whether the so-called cure is a cure, properly so called.
At the centre of the developing story is Ezeibe, a Professor of Veterinary Medicine and Clinical Virology at the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State. The university’s vice chancellor, Francis Otunta, made the controversial claim on the Voice of Nigeria (VON) on February 1.
Otunta reportedly said: “Prof. Ezeibe is a researcher in Veterinary Medicine and one may wonder how he discovered a drug to cure a human ailment.” In the light of the response by the NCDC, the public may indeed wonder about the HIV/AIDS cure claim, although the speaker’s comment was not meant to suggest that the claimed discovery was incredible. He was quoted as saying the university would mass-produce the alleged curative drug for further clinical trials on persons living with HIV/AIDS in the country.
The alleged discoverer painted a picture of the process that produced the claimed cure, saying 10 persons living with HIV/AIDS “were treated daily with the Medicinal Synthetic Aluminum-Magnesium Silicate (50 mg/kg).” He added: “With the antiviral effects of the medicine, its ability to reach all cells (as nanoparticles) and the lymphocytes, there is no more hiding place (sanctuary) for HIV.”
It is interesting that Ezeibe also provided information on his efforts to validate his claimed discovery, saying he had presented his research findings at the world virology conference in Atlanta in 2015, and Antonio (Texas) in 2016. He said the results of the laboratory tests had been published in several international scientific journals, including the British Journal of Medicine and Medical Research.
He also said he was close to signing a memorandum of understanding with the US-based publishers of World Journal of AIDS, towards the publication of his book titled “How I came about the cure for HIV/AIDS.” He even boasted about the drug, which he said was patented in August 2014 in Nigeria: “If commercialised, the Medicinal Synthetic Aluminum-Magnesium Silicate would become an alternative for petroleum to the Nigerian economy.”
All that talk is nothing more than talk, the NCDC said. The agency observed: “… this study was published in two little known journals and involved less than 10 patients. In the “clinical trial” as reported, there was no evidence of the use of controls, which is the basis of all efficacy trials.” Fundamentally, it also noted that “virological suppression (viral load of less than 50 copies/ml) was not achieved in six of the patients.”
The Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) caused by Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), which alters the immune system leading to greater vulnerability to infections and diseases, has continued to attract international medical attention since it was identified in the 1980s. It is a serious international health issue that must not be trivialised by cure claims that cannot pass the validity test.
What this means is that there is no cause for cheer about the claimed cure. The reality is that there is cause for concern, even cause for alarm. For a disease with a global status like HIV/AIDS, a genuine cure must be based on globally acceptable scientific standards.