Thursday, November 28, 2024

Government defends the microbicide gel clinical trials

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MINISTER of Health, Kapembwa Simbao

Government has defended the microbicide gel clinical trials in which 46 women out of 1,332 volunteers in Mazabuka District contracted HIV due to failed efficacy of the gel pro-2000, meant to prevent the contraction of the virus that cause AIDS.

Health minister Kapembwa Simbao told Parliament in a ministerial statement today that government believes that research as such the microbicide gel clinical trials is important because it provides data for policy implementation.

Mr Simbao says the results of the Microbicide Development Programme, Mazabuka trials were disappointing, but that government recognizes that this large trial was done with high scientific and ethical standards.

He says the researchers also engaged the stakeholders and the community in which the trial was conducted. Mr Simbao says the failure of the clinical trials should not bring to an end microbicide research, but should continue as well as research to find other means of protecting women.

And Mr Simbao says the issue of compensation for the women infected with HIV does not arise because all the volunteers knew that they were taking a risk trial and that it is for this reason that they were made to sign the consent agreement.

He says the only thing that is being done is to make follow ups so that those that contracted HIV can be assisted to cope with their new condition.

QFM

82 COMMENTS

  1. Are you kidding me? This guy needs to resign on moral grounds. How the hell does Simbao justify the use of Zambians as guinea pigs and saying there wil be no compensation for this disaster? Why was this trial not done in th UK? These people knew they wouldnt get away with this nonsence out there so thats whay the picked a third world country with ingorant leaders and they got away with it. This matter is so wrong on so many levels and I urge those involved to seek redress through human rights organization cause obviously our own government is championing genocide on its own citizens

  2. #1, Forsho, You are spot on. This whole thing is very disturbing and Simbao is an arrogant chap to sarcastically say the women knew the risks, he has no regrets about it. You go to a place like Mazabuka and hoodwink unsuspecting women (who I’m sure the majority were illiterate) and lure them into this risky experiment. It’s criminal and in many well governed countries Simbao and his accomplices would face charges. This is yet another Zambian scandal.

  3. what a shocking statement from a man who calls himself a leader…Does he know what it means to live with HIV? This state is irreversable and those women damned for life..suppose they are married,it could mean that their husband too are positive by now…If simbao thinks he is clever,why didn’t he volunteer his sister to be used as specimen since he sees so much need for such a research as this..or even his daughters,and nieces.If this is what they call leadership in zambia,then iam right to say zambia has no leaders at all..i can only see animals in human bodies and neck ties…absolutely disgusting..

  4. But there are many questions that needs some answers here.Like were these people`s HIV status checked before the trial ? If so were they told to start sleeping around without any protection to test for the efficacy of the gel ? Yeah this whole thing doesnt make much sense to me.:-?

  5. Comments from MMD chief something!! Sure, a government that cares about its people would allow such an unertical medical practice?

  6. Simbao is Zambia’s worst ever Minister of Health! That says a lot knowing the likes who have been in that office! This man is not only sarcastic but very arrogant. He thinks he knows it all just because his wife and young sister are doctors. He never listens to technocrats in his ministry. It has reached a stage where those who know better are so frustrated that they think giving advice to this chap is a waste of energy. If) was in touch with reality, this chap should have been fired a long time ago. This fellow is also very corrupt and yet pretends to be Mr Clean. What a loser!

  7. In society you will find people like Simbao who have no feelings for others. In these third world countries, if you don’t have money you are abused. On humanitarian grounds, these people must be compensated even though they signed consents. If this Simbao was a beneficially of a compensation, like the NCC , he couldn’t say this nonsense. I personally hate these people in the so called high offices in Zambia. His reasoning no different from that of George Kunda.

  8. Why not ka George Kunda, chi VJ, ka midget Chiluba and do trials on the and not innocent villagers?Atleast we those fulls fyalifwa kale ala bakaboke imwe.

  9. What surprises me is the silence from the legal profession in Zambia.
    The trials were not conducted by the government of zambia but by a UK registered company and hence liable for damages. So, why should this minister be giving a statement on behalf of the company which did the trials?
    The Zambian people expect better.

  10. The fact is these people where paid very little. Yes they knew the consequences but they took a chance because they have atleast for got to survive. Who was bonking them? Chiluba, chi VJ or ka Kunda? We need to know!

  11. Thought slavery was gone! Why did this st u pid government allow these stupi d trials? Wake up you Zambians. If I was president I wouldn’t allow it for starters. Someone got paid as is always the case with Africans. I wouldn’t do it for a million pounds for goodness sake. Zambians demand answers from these idio ts. Why didn’t that company do it on their people?

  12. Calm down ladies and gentlemen. For any medication to get to market including ARVs they go through a process including human trials. You would not have any effective medication without aspects of it being tested on humans. Put things into perspective, if this gel had proved effective, it would have saved many millions of lives. This is the unfortunate side effect of drug research. Emotions do not resolve anything. What we should be asking is the compensation package available to those who took part, regardless of consent issues.

  13. its a shame that our zambian sisters have become lab animals.the government that doesnt protect its own people.why did that same company carry their trials in uk or usa?it pains so much to be in the country with such leaders.am going to zambia very soon, i ll follow up the whole story.this minister will have to go.i cant keep quite while such athing is happening.martin luther king jr once said that the best places in hell are reserved for those who in times of troublemaintaints their neutrality. i ll go for that story.ii have to see what agreement was there.the same thing is increasing poverty. i ll go for that story

  14. Good Evening

    For the first time on this site, I’m raging. How can a democratic government have the audacity to openly defend such trials which endanger the lives of it’s citizens? Mr. Simbao, what is more important to you: policy implementation or human life?

    This statement reveals quite a lot about the government. It shows that they trust foreigners so much and they don’t care about the ordinary Zambian. They really need to be more cautious when dealing with Western scientists. How can they allow the shackles of slavery which had been taken off our ankles to be put on the brains?!

    Please, Zambia, don’t we have even one locally trained pharmacist who can stand up to criticise the government and condemn the Researchers for such atrocities? Or are they all blinded by poverty?

  15. ife ndife ba zambia; Please see my post above. In addition to what I have posted, there is usually an ethics appraisal of any trial. You would need to find the details of any arrangements or ethical approvals and by whom that were given for the trial.

  16. No.16 I agree with you but why did they have to choose poor women from Mazabuka? why didnt they use it on themselves first? Thats what I dont understand. They are scared of dying themselves and so they want other poor zambian to die. And I think they was no lawyer to explain to them what it meant. These pple were just told to sign without reading the document and no one to explain to them clearly. Poor them! Its like sending the Nigerian boy to bomb the plane and they one who sent him was at home enjoy his coffee coz he knew that the foolish Nigerian was going to kill himself. Thank God he realised it although late. They should have accepted the money and sleep with no one. but these women were foolish and naive, I am sorry to say.

  17. The Expatriate:i knw what u said.thanks very much.i want to go and analyse the agreement which was made.those poor women deserve millions of dollars for that failed trial.the people were involved benefited fro the same project, just crooked the women.they need to b compasated by the parties involved.why was the same trial not carried in the european countries?if the same trial was a success,zambia would not even have benefited.they would have been selling them (drugs)at the highest prices.rubish

  18. its upto us guys to make a different.because pa age yamene bafika most of our politicians, kuti benze kumunzi sembe nibamfwiti, so in short ba fika pa age ya umfwiti.they dont care about human life.

  19. look gentlemen! does anyone know what the expected outcome or end point measure for this research was? was it to achieve a 100% prevention rate? perhaps 95% as in this instance or lower at 80% ? You then judge the efficacy of whatever it is you are studying by comparing to your predetermined end point. if the study outcome was an 80% reduction in transmission would you then consider this trial to be a failure? how much chance or confounding factors are you ready to entertain?
    talking about compensation and consent; it would be interesting to know just how much this consent was informed. was there full disclosure? was there full understanding on the part of the subjects ?

  20. Webman #24:o

    Are you for real? It`s amazing how people who should be defending their country/fellow citizens can turn out to be like mugs. Forget all the nonsense about results. These are lives “lost”. Imagine this is your sister!

  21. Its quite clear that the minister is out of his depth and an utter embarrassment not only to Zambia but the wider third world for allowing such trials being undertaken in Africa. I wonder if there’s any other African Country that took to this? Thambo Mbeki spent all his presidence fighting off foreign phamacetical companies trialing his citizens on HIV drugs they ended up accusing him of not understanding the link between HIV and AIDS. But the truth of the matter is that he succesfully defended his people. If RB has any decency he should sack this ***** of a minister.:((:((

  22. The biggest issue here that we try to find out how the government was involved and how much if anything were they paid to allow such a test to be conducted. We all know the government was informed about the tests and it was ultimately the government that was supposed to protect those poor women from the danger. Do we have Human Subjects Research Compliance regulations in Zambia? If we don’t that too is a reason why the government must take responsibility for the problem. And if anyone has to be sued, it is the government and the agency responsible for such. Even using animals today has regulations one has to follow. Signing the contract or agreement does not negate that fact that these people did not sign to get HIV.

  23. sad reading coming from this idio t minister. so theses foo ls in govt ware paid to allow this dangerous trial. yes research is needed, but before it carried out on human beings, proper and i mean proper information should be given to the volunteers. this is the reason why HIV in the third world countries is rampant, because people are intentionally infected.

  24. What i know about HIV is drugs(ARV’s) are given to people who already are living with the virus. So #16, try to educate yourself on such ethical approaches where some one gets the virus through lack of detailed knowledge. The people used here are well classified as illiterate in HIV/AIDS knowledge and hence susceptible to manipulation on a monetary basis. What is ZMK 20,000 compared to the life threatening HIV condition? Such microbicides must have been used to assess the new infection among already infected people by basically looking at new viral entrants past the gel,then you can say this thing protects or does not protect. basically if i were the lead scientist, i will pick on HIV + married couples since these already have the virus, let them mate and note the viral type the man has…

  25. then by consent introduce another virus in the man and see if it can be transmitted to the wife or not. Not getting people to start having sex even when they are not married. Just beats me. do you tell them to apply the gel before having sex with any one? on the one hand you are promoting promiscuity and then want to be holy by saying we are providing a potential cure, NONSENSE at its best.

  26. Is this man serious? These guys got school drop outs for the trial and made them sign documents they didn’t understand. They were coerced with promises of sugar and fanta. Trust me, in the villages, this is enough motivation to do anything. The Govt should step in and help those women get compensated. Why didn’t they conduct this trial on educated women? They instead went to women who didn’t know the implications of the trial. Our govt should be held accountable for this deplorable act. Simbao needs to resign on moral grounds

  27. My take on this issue is that the women who participated do not need compensation based on the following understanding that I currently hold:
    1. Those women were not told to stop using condemns whenever they were going for sexual encounters.
    2. The women were not forced to have sexual intercourse with known HIV positive men organised by MDP.
    3. The microbicide does not contain an HIV virus, but seeks to kill or destroy the HIV virus at its earliest sight during intercourse.
    4. MDP was clear enough in explaining what it was doing to whoever participated in that trial and made those that agreed to sign CONSENT forms.

    Be blest all.
    __
    Eph 6:13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

  28. Can someone please just bonk simbao himeself for us. His reasoning is just sickening. I would personally break his neck if nothing is done to correct this injustice.

  29. Mr. Simbao’s reaction to this tragedy is chillingly cold and makes me wonder what trust one can safely put in this government which seems to think Zambian lives are so easily expendable.
    Pleading consent of the subjects as a defence against compensation is nonsensical if the subjects were in no position to make a really fully informed decision based on full disclosure and knowledge.
    A government that won’t protect its citizens is worse than useless and fit only for the scrap heap of history.

  30. Mr. Simbao’s reaction to this tragedy is chillingly cold and frightening, and makes me wonder what trust one can safely put in this government which seems to think Zambian lives are so easily expendable.
    Pleading consent of the subjects as a defence against compensation is nonsensical if the subjects were in no position to make a really fully informed decision based on full disclosure and knowledge.
    A government that won’t protect its citizens is worse than useless and fit only for the scrap heap of history.

  31. This foo l ish minister should resign on moral grounds. Why not get his ugly wife to do the test? Taking advantage of poor people. This trial could never be allowed in a developed country. Yet this wanker called Maestro is still coming up little aka bwamber spouting tripe. That’s why he bonks his mother, sisters and cousins. People you can’t believe he is a mod.

  32. Ideallly such trials are stopped even before they start. As long as there is the risk of infection the government should have said no but no thank you.

  33. Let this idi ots wife do the trial next if he wants it to continue, better still get ka Maestro ugly mother, sisters or cousins as well as mmd chief boot leaker and capitalists’. How pathetic can these people.

  34. #30 I am educated about these things, infact I have conducted clinical trials in the UK. Please read my post clearly and you might then understand what I am saying. You may also take into account aspects of what #34 has posted, although I do not necessarily agree with his no compensation stance. Every clinical research proposal should be subject to ethical appraisal, and maybe and in your anger you should focus on understanding what the ethical appraisal involved was. Why were the trials carried out in Zambia? Well look at the incidence of HIV in Zambia and you will find the answer. Why was the gel being tried? Because research has shown that the best was to cut transmission would be through empowering women in protecting themselves rather that relying on a man to have his condom.

  35. #25 I note that you have not posted anything sensible except to insult me. You might be rightly frustrated with your life, but I have no wish to get into insults except to debate issues and give my point of view. Get a life.

  36. #43 expatriate what a mug you are! You are going to end up with a country which only has girls/women. Yah let men die as long as long women are safe? You full! By the way what instructions were these women given? Go and sleep with HIV positive people like chi VJ and ka Chiluba see if you get the virus? These women were HIV negative you full! WhY UK are you on about?

  37. #42 ulimbushi. The question you should be asking yourself is why they became HIV positive. How much were these innocent people paid? Why go to conduct such a stu pid trial in Africa when there are blacks in the UK like yourself who are HIV positive?

  38. Mrs Magic, I do not wish to get into insults with you as I have alot of respect for women. I am not gay so I would not sleep with the people you suggest, in addition to being happily married. Read what I have posted and tell me what is offensive about it or what bit makes me foolish or a mug.

  39. You are being insensitive to the fact that these people were supposed to be protected by your government. Would this company do this stu p id trial in the Uk?

  40. Mrs Magic you have crossed the line. You are obviously a very frustrated person with limited capacity to comprehend issues and are only adept at trading insults. If you cannot find the compassion in my post, then I worry for the education system in Zambia or wherever you are. Google ‘drug trial gone wrong’ and read about drug trials in UK where I have lived for over 21 years. Show some respect if not some intelligence.

  41. You idio t they can never be compared to people getting HIV! Why are you being thick? I have friends who have participated in clinical trials in the UK. By the way the dangerous ones are done on desperate international students you full. 20+ years! Aha ha ha ha! So it makes you a genius you tool!

  42. That is a sign of defeat. You must be the only one attending a board meeting. Typical Black African, bring in board meetings lol!

  43. It is so sad to note how even people we hold high here like Nine Chali have no recourse to deep reflection. More so diaspora bloggers. If all vaccines did not go through this phase, people would still be dying from polio, measles etc today. As we speak, there are HIV vaccines trial & people are doing exactly what Mazabuka pipo did. On the other hand if such research was unnecessary, every quark would make a product and claim it cures this or that and ultimately many lives would be lost. The level of the Diaspora debate is truly low. I have looked at all of them including kalos 2020!

  44. Expatriate you are a big time Charlie!:d

    #55 Mule. You and Expatriate deserve each other. Did you ever hear about the elephant boy? Do you know how that case was settled?

    Celebrity big brother in Australia? Anyone? People are talking about 46 lives for crying out loud. Human beings.

    Your life Expatriate and that of Big Mule is cheap I think. :d:d

  45. Big Mule and Expatriate, I salute you. All the comments I have reviewed so far, you are the only ones who seem to under the process the process of drug trials. What can we do to educate all these people who just comment out of ignorance? Its a shame because they think they know and have the heart of the people who participated on these trials but on the contrary the don’t and they busy condemning those trying to find a solution to the epidemic. Where do they think ARVs, Antibiotics and other drugs came from? Heaven? Shame?. The problem with Zambians is that they think solutions to problems will only come by Praying or talking. Sad indeed.

  46. # 56 Bwinjimfumu, no I have not heard about the elemphant boy. Tell me more.

    Did you know that all the drugs and vaccines that you have ever used went through human phase (in the population) trials! Since post world war courts of mass killings, these are now standard requirement. Regardless of how serious the disease is, Phase 3 trial is a requirement.Yes, to protect people’s lives. 46 women out of 1,332 in 2 years did not positively benefit! If it was not for the extreme evidence of proof required by science, these people could claim the drug actually works because they are aware of the yearly natural conversion rate in Mazabuka.

  47. No. 57 Researcher , I understand you my friend. It is not easy to convince people on this forum because this topic is difficult even to scientists in training to grasp. This is because it is based on both Mathermatics (statistic), natural science , the science of ethics including the science and history of human protection. These are the reasons that makes it hard to understand. But the example I have given to # 56 Bwinjimfumu above is usually helpful. Remember, even some doctors are incapable of understanding how these 46 women helped save millions of lives. Actually, one failed doctor in the UK was the first to open his mouth in a shameless unscientific, emotional way!

  48. #42 ,43, 50, 53, EXPATRIATE, you are talking of simple infections that have treatment. hey try to differenitiate between an infection with no solid treatment worse still no cure in sight maybe for the coming 15 or 20 years. Yes we all need some clinical trial after a hard days work in the lab but mind you, the ethical issue in Zambia is something else. Just look at the response of this chap whose PhD supervisor must be grinning his/her teeth for a failure he/she produced. Talk of clinical trials in the UK, yes most of the cancer patients my friend is trying his drug on are old, no hope, with fully blown up cancer, yet you want an HIV negative person to get infected for you to generate data for policy making? Some of you chaps you have to have your heads examined. This whole thing is tosh

  49. .how i wish they had administered it on your wife you pussy hole . you even say its justified when people are going to die. where do you use human beings for research . asshole. Simbao. mother****er.bitch ass.

  50. #59 Big Mule, tell me if the gel is a drug or not. Also tell me which second phase of clinical trial did it pass if not that the Zambian trial on the MDP Pro 2000 GEL was not the first of its kind. Guys, we have medical doctors, pharmaceutical experts, medicinal chemists, Drug designers on this forum. One thing you must understand is that drugs that are lethal in many cases are always shifted to AFRICA for trials. Tell me, where did the polio vaccine trial in human populations start? after a break through, you hear it started from the whites population but had it failed, fingers would have pointed to Africa as usual that this is the reservoir. The fact that trials were shifted to Zambia is not a problem but look at the scientists in the fore front, crooked politicians

  51. #58 Big Mule learn to research before embarassing yourself on the net. If you never heard about the elephant boy then you shouldn`t even be arguing your point.

    Try and google it and please make sure you pass it on to your brothers Expatriate and Researcher, though the computer says you are one and the same person!

  52. MURDER! This is what i call it. Its very sad indeed very. I mean these guys are poor already and wont afford medicines or even transportation costs to medical facilities and you do this to them???? Maybe it was inevitable some would contract the HIV but it doesnt sound right. I bet this simbao piece of crap has sleepless nights because the blood of these innocent souls is on his hands the sonofabitch….

  53. Mrs Magic bakali yoh! This is what i call breathing fire! However being the lover that i am i can tame her nicely and she can call me mr magic he he he he………::d

  54. To Ghostrider & Bwingimfumu, I also grieve for the 46 participants. Guevara, I’m unaware that dangerous drugs are tested in Africa because I met men in the US & Europe that took part in the most serious trial which included receiving engine coolant in their veins in trials of lymphoma treatment. I was young then & I thought this was ridiculous in Europe! But I have also met the old Dr. who is now world acclaimed as the first man to cure lymphoma, much more fatal than HIV. My postings are certainly not for people like Mrs. Magic already laboring under irredeemable challenges. The people of Mazabuka are heroes, just like those of Lusaka where the 1st trial of the same but weaker combination was conducted 4 years ago. Systems of high very caliber exist & protect Zambians bane!

  55. #66, Big Mule, you are talking of curable cancers of which a plethora of knowlegde existed before you were born and here we are talking of people who DIDN’T have the HIV but at the end they get it. Mind you in all trials for anti cancer drugs, no single normal person is allowed to undertake a classical trial as almost all the testable agents may impair the normal immune system, hence ALL people who you mistakenly think are normal candidates have a cancer of some sort and are candidates for such trials. For your information, AZT, now being phased out was never tested on HIV negative people, the homosexuals who tested positive for the virus were exclusively selected for clinical trials in the states at a secret military hospital/research station.
    In Zambia, the people were duped into…

  56. getting into what they knew not. Its morally wrong and extremely bad ETHICALLY to dupe someone into getting an infection in the name of research. This is not a vaccine and moreover, the vaccines so far are for already curable diseases not HIV

  57. This is messed up! In this day and age, who stands up for the poor people if learned idoits like Simbao act like morons? Investigations at parliamentaary level should start right away!!

  58. surely even if they consented….they must be compensated. and please lets not allow africa to be an experiment site…..come on guys….look at what happened with the experiments in the congo for small pox vaccines……made from monkey liver or something…….

  59. A TRIAL is an experiment ANYTIME IT CAN GO WRONG. these women knew that they were specimen for an experiment, a very high RISKY experiment. People are ready to reduce themselves to laboratory apparatus. when this go wrong they blame statehouse.

    I don’t know how much they scientists offered maybe US$ 50,000/day or maybe free

    ARV were tested in south Africa, It was also a disaster.

    Even Dr. Sondashi had put people on trial :d

  60. Listen people, Zambia is on auto pilot Anything goes due to a lack of leadership – Leadership is not only political, it is in anything remember, HOW YOU DO ANYTHING IS HOW YOU DO EVERYTHING. When things go wrong, it should be a turning, I want people to shout very loudly, no longer will this have to happen to my country under my watch!! Enough is enough – Let me ask you this: how many people have died this week of AIDS, how many more will die? Now who is taking corrective action and following up to make sure things are changing? Let me give a fact: why do we import everythng specifically – immoral programs which corrupt our culture. This is an example of the typical Zambian mentality – open to anything including infecting HIV negative women to make them HIV positive.

  61. Who is taking statistics
    How much Zambian education do we want if we can not believe our education, enlightened Zambian Doctors- Let me tell you this my friends- A Zambian Doctor, Dr Mapara disputed the authenticity of the Microbicides research way back in 2005. Was it because he was i) Zambian ii) Black iii) Not a politician?
    Such people should be commended for the willingness to give back to the country and yet they are ostracised (do not argue about the spelling- its the point), in Botswana they heed is call and they have a program which is thriving.
    THE TRUTH IS THE TRUTH, people can use all the meandering ways to justify their corrupt actions – because money apparently is worth more than our birth right-Zambian land, Zambian people, Zambian minerals (even the undiscovered eg oil)

  62. #70 Oh yes, a trial is an experiment but this is an experiment that has been highly refined to offset unsuspecting false positives or negatives. Yes Sondashi conducted a trial ON HIV + people not like these chaps who have now put the lives of those innocent women at the mercy of ARV’s in the near future.

  63. CHE GUAVARA, Cancer is curable because the cure was discovered by trials. The issue of preventing HIV is more serious than your empty skull! Have a life man. People are determined to find a prevention that will give women a leeway, a choice to arm themselves and not to depend men to agree or refuse to wear a condom. You can not change this. There are more than 6 other microbicides lined up for trial all over the world just this year alone. I pity your thick skull.

  64. Murder? Manslaughter? Genocide? Homicide? Where are the Women Lobby Groups/Lawyers!?
    Jail for researchers. Release when the 46 women have died of AIDS! Sue Drug Company! No Trials again! Now that “Zambia: MPs roar at botched MDP Trials” as reported by Africa News, can we see
    justice for Zambia and justice for the Nakambala women, used for Western Research. Tempers flared in parliament, FINALLY!

  65. Forgot to ask!
    Where is the Human Rights Commission (HRC) Report that Simbao promised, when Dr Edwin Mapara exposed the scandal last year on the UK Zambians website? Is Simbao’s statement a result of the investigations by HRC and the Catholic Church?
    Leaders are supposed to protect those that they are leading. Is it any surprise that Africa is a big laboratory for Western Researchers and dubious Drug Companies!?
    May our God have mercy on you on The Day of Judgement, that you have not shown to the Zambian women!

  66. i pity Zambians who think themselves educated/literate but yap about nothing. These women you call illiterate are more knowledgable about trials than you are. Have you heard them cry out? why do you think they are quite? I will tell you; they think you are ignorant! they know so much about HIV and what it is doing to them, they also know about man and his take on condoms. They want power even in sex! They are willing to find answers to this HIV.

  67. Too much ignorance on this forum. Guys u need 2 do yo research on how drugs are develope. They all undergo clinical trials…all of them.
    So if u dont know what to tok about, shuuting up is a much wiser option.

  68. The ministry MUST take responsibility and pay these women. In any failed clinical trials, people come first.

    AZT was a terrible drug to give to patients, and medics knew that, but went ahead and administer this drug to poor patients, thereby causing more damage to their ailing health.
    Take these doctors to court guys.
    I know a good human rights lawyer. The case is spread out aacross Uganda, Kenya, Zambia, etc… the damage done to so many famillies is beyond belief.

  69. #78, Gaalo I hope you have read that 80% of the women in the “Mazabuka Gel Gate Scandal” had only atained grade 7 and some have not even been into primary school! Is it any wonder that these grade 7’s “…you call illiterate are more knowledgable about trials than you are!”

    Africa shall always remain the laboratory for “animal” trials, when all the rats and monkeys are dead in the western world.:-?

  70. Greetings as we approach Christmas again, from the 14th December 2009, social intercourse that we had.

    Thought that this link might interest you of the New York City Mwape Peer Awards 2011 for “Physician Award.”

    We all have a role in AIDucating our communities: HIV and TB prevention; Caring and supporting those living with and affected by HIV infections, TB and AIDS.

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