Half of the volunteers for the clinical trial of the Microbicide Gel conducted by the Microbicide Development Programme in Mazabuka are feared to have contracted HIV due to alleged failed efficacy of the drug.
The drug called Gel was administered on HIV negative women as a preventive measure against contracting the virus in a trial to determine the effectiveness of the drug.
However, Programme Coordinator, Ruth Kasonde has declined to give details of the outcome of the trial to ZANIS in Mazabuka.
According to well placed sources, 1,340 HIV negative women were enrolled for the trial and that after 12 months it was discovered that nearly half of them had contracted the virus despite using the Gel.
The sources revealed that the results of the trial have since been submitted to the Microbicide Development Programme by the Medical Research Council of the United Kingdom.
It was not immediately clear if the Ministry of Health in Zambia has similarly been availed the research findings.
The Gel was being administered into the vagina an hour before a sexual encounter.
The gel contains molecules that are intended to clump around HIV before it can penetrate the vaginal wall. However, the researchers found that the gel did not have such an effect as most of the women who used the gel contracted HIV during the study period.
The sources also revealed that next month the women who were under the clinical trial will be briefed on the outcome of the research.
They further revealed that another research would be conducted targeting 60 women in Lubombo area in Mazabuka.
“This study will be different from the earlier one as it will focus on the acceptability especially that it is an ARV based microbicide trial,” the source said.
ZANIS
Exploitation of the under privileged in society! How were these trials sactioned?
What a scandal.Who are responsible?Do the victims get compensation?
LUSAKA TIMES YOU HAVE TO BE CAREFUL IN THE USE OF IMAGES, ARE THE WOMEN IN THE PHOTO ABOVE PART OF THE TRIAL? I AM SURE YOU KNOW THE POWER OF ASSOCIATION AND THE POWER OF IMAGES, PLEASE REMOVE THAT PHOTO BEFORE YOU BRING ABOUT CONFUSION.
#3 Spot on. One would seriously question the professionalism of LT. Kind of jungle stuff.
Also, just wondering. Why do most of the adverts on LT only show white people eg the One on hottest singles in the bar above.
LT, can you please be Zambian. Us people in teh diaspora would prefer to see true Zambia faces on Zambian based advertisements.
This is very sad unfortunately this is how real life is. No wealthy person will agree to be used for trials. These people came from the UK and trageted poor people in Mazabuka. Quite sad!
This study is flawed from the beginning, how can one tell whether the gels were being used as advised. This study shouldn’t have been allowed by any ethical committee as no reliable results would be obtained from such. People’s lives should not be played with.
Back to the subject, why on earth do these things to poor women. Sentencing ignorant women to death! If these tests resulted in a cure, they poor people may not even afford the treatment.
A 50% failure rate is just too much to allow tests to be conducted on human beings. How does the Govt allow a test that you know that 50% of the people will die after the test. Please the Gel on rats or something else. Even animal activists cannot allow you to conduct such risky tests on monkeys.
Mindboggling.
Wonder what they were given in exchange, a 25kg bag of unga?
Africans used as Guinea pigs again. Why not carry out trials in UK or USA
its the Titanic. The unsinkable. What a bad trail. NGOs and there deeds. Batulyemo ubupuba mwamona banamayo mwaipaya. Rubbish. Jail the i d i o t s involved in bringing such noxious things. Our President is so sleepy what do you expect from his subordinates. Yabaa!!!!!!! imbushi ishiyee. Where are we going?
LT remove the photo, what if it was your sisters or bluluz
This is not only sad, it is exasperating! Why did the government allow the Medical Research Council to conduct these experiments in Zambia? Had the victims been British or American, this story would now be on CNN or BBC but because they are poor Zambians, they may not even be compensated. What a shameful and wicked act against humanity.
Aaaaaaaaa! Kwena eee! Ati volunteers, is it true these people volunteered. Eish. Nalaswa, elo chakalipa. What has this black skin done on earth to deserve this?
And then someone wonders why some factions in society propose the regulation of NGOs. Am sure the full risks associated with these trials were not even fully disclosed to the volunteers. As a person living with HIV, I wish to encourage these people that this is not a death sentence. They can still lead a meaningful and fulfilling life by taking appropriate measures. However, compensasion should be sought.
And LT, please get a comment from Mrs. Mwanawasa regarding this development!
And then someone wonders why some factions of society propose the regulation of NGOs. Am sure the full risks associated with these trials were not even fully disclosed to the volunteers. As a person living with HIV, I wish to encourage these people that this is not a death sentence. They can still lead a meaningful and fulfilling life by taking appropriate measures. However, compensasion should be sought.
And LT, please get a comment from Mrs. Mwanawasa regarding this development!
volunteers to be guinea pigs,thats ridiculous. how can you encourage participants to have unprotected sex or deliberately, exposing them to HIV.Why not conduct the research on actual guinea pigs,you devils you deserve to be hanged for killing innocent souls,where is the prioritization of participants’ rights.Voluntely murder,Its being black and poor is a big crime,**** the west world.
what a ****ing world we live in only to be ****ing killed by mutha ****ing whites,hellno!
#14 This is a death sentence. Where will they have access to those expensive drugs on a regular basis to keep them alive? I bet this Ruth Kasonde, the so-called Program Coordinator, tricked these helpless women.
I want to believe these women were being paid for taking part in this trial, as is the custom. On the other hand, the causes for these women contracting this virus could have been that they never used the Gel in the first place! Remember that our women are fond of dry sex, and if the lubricant did the opposite in the twane, then most men would not want wet sex. Am speaking from a cultural point of view because this is what we should be discouraging as society, but you know men!
LT, am impressed that you are actually censoring my words. However you need to understand that the word s.ex has being used objectively to illustrate a life saving situation, ka.
And mind you this microbicide gel trial was a highly publicised trial in Mazabuka and Govt was obviously aware of it. The Question still remains is, what were these women given as remuneration? Will they access to treatment? How longwilll they be taken care of? Till Death?
It is indeed very sad! The Programme Coordinator, Ruth Kasonde should be put to task and explain if there was any government wing that sanctioned the programme.We wannt facts
Human guinea pigs. I hope these women understood what they were getting into before hand.
This is very sad in indeed.Isn’t this story similar to what happened in Libya?
But Zed being Zed this story will die a natural death
This is very sad indeed.Isn’t this story similar to what happened in Libya?
But Zed being Zed this story will die a natural death
I feel it was done wrongly and to the wrong people tests should never be done to innocent souls there must be something wrong with the persons who did these tests
why didn’t they experiment on the British women instead!
who allowed this in the first place?
This is really ridiculous! Who allowed this test to go on? Why wasnt this test carried out in the US or Europe? We need to wake Zambians and Africans at large, white people still see us as less human. We need a president like Sata on this issue, am sure the ‘black mamba’ wouldn’t have tolerated this nonsense in his country. These people have to be compensated huge amounts of money, and taken care of (healthwise) for the rest of their lives. Lastly cage and hang the MUTHERF.U.C.K.ERS who allowed this test to be carried out.
In the first place, why did the women volunteer for such a trial when they new they were ‘clean’ (-ve)? Why panic when you know yo -ve status? I would rather stay home and maintain the already known safety measures that i have been using.
Who allowed this to be done i’m Hiv and live in the UK there is no gel being used here
Thats why these are called trials!! These people knew what they signed up for. In this day and age why would anyone go sleep around without using protection. It’s not the Drug that has caused these women to contract the HIV Virus, It’s them sleeping around without using protection.
Our leaders are a BIG shame,shame,shame.How can they allow such inhuman act.
This is so true that the west does not value an African life.As far as they are concerned we are sub-human thats why,*****ic governments such as that of Zambia will continue to betray their citizens all in the name of development,when all it is just HANDOUTS.
EXPER!
WHAT ON EARTH WAS THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH THINKING TO ALLOW SUCH EXPERIMENTS BE TRIED ON OUR WOMEN????
WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE????
THIS IS GENOCIDE!
IS THERE A WAY JUSTICE COULD BE SOUGHT?? LT LAWYERS??
This is scandal of the HIGHEST magnitude. How many more people are already infected with a simple multiplier effect of 5!!?? Surely you dont play with lives of people like this when you already the devatsting effects of this incurable disease. I am really annoyed …someone must be held accountable. I am prepared to assist seeking justice for these women. Ba LT is there a way you can dig this deeper and bring out more information please?
This is scandal of the HIGHEST magnitude. How many more people are already infected with a simple multiplier effect of 5!!?? Surely you dont play with lives of people like this when you already know the devatsting effects of this incurable disease. I am really annoyed …someone must be held accountable. I am prepared to assist seeking justice for these women. Ba LT is there a way you can dig this deeper and bring out more information please?
Why sensor the word s.e.x if you LT have mentioned the real thing of where this gel was being put?
And I don`t understand how these women who where negative can become positive sudenely. Does it mean there were some men who were positive and then the women were lined up to only sleep with those men? I don`t get the point here.
These people are not volunteers. They was cohesion in doing so. When one goes to needy poor souls and promises them what they don’t have, you don’t term that voluntary, but cohesion. Now that it has happened, what next? The British firm and Zambian govts are liable for the outcome. These are the ones who deserve the money RB wants to steal with Chongwe. Remember the syphilis research on poor black souls in the USA? This is exactly the same. Compensate these poor women as they deserve to be. This is all MMD’s failures to protect its poeple and people are still fighting the Pact, crazy stuff going on pa ZED. The people here are victims of big corporations and a negligent govt. and anyone that purports that they signed agreements deserves same experiments. Hang Chituwo.
I think LT should investigate further what happened. Most of these studies are never conducted on people without their consent and usually people that are usually at risk such as proffessionals night workers are usually the targets. In addition they are told that they should use other modes of proven protection. If none of this was done and this was an already population, Govt. should definitely prosecute whoever is sponsoring this. When did Zambians become Guinea pigs, we refused GMO’s and now this????
This story initially confused me , i have to say. But after re- reading , i think i get the gist.
Question is…did the infected women get infected because they were relying on the gel for protection in their everyday sexual lives( promiscuity ?) or was there a deliberate attempt to make them more prone to infection ? I don’t see how you can , practically, make them more susceptible…. It appears most people think these women where given the impression that all would be well , but let’s not forget here that these are supposedly volunteers , so there are no victims here . And also as # 6 mbumba has pointed out the monitoring of such a trial is near enough impossible, unless of course the monitors are actually there during the act itself ! …
LOL Kalos2020 , Pact would have been there, Sata and HH is that your assertion? People are fighting Pact because they offer nothing other than criticizing RB and MMD, they offer no alternatives and believe me will be worse dictators. Look at PF and UPND, do they even know know what conventiosn are? look at how one runs his house to get a glimpse of what kind of president he will be. Pact needs to start telling us what they will do instead of just yapping everyday in the post.
The problem with MMD ni buchintomfwa just like your name or title. No matter what kind of advice, It will be just like what the Bemba saying goes as “PATA MUNKOLA AMANO YENGILE” Which means no matter how much you can blow the wind in an empty snail, you will just run out of your sense.
Wel sorry I mean “PUTA MUNKOLA AMANO YENGILE” and not PATA MUNKOLA.
Yaba and I bet they made those women sign paperwork stating that the company won’t be liable should they get infected. Read the Fine Print please, if you don’t understand ask somebody.
This is really sad. Am feeling sorry for my country Zed. However. as sum1 has suggested, we need more data on how this trial was carried out and the monitoring was done and why to such a huge group, come on guys, 1000 is quite a large number for clinical trials i think. Is it possible that these women were married to HIV+ men? all that there were asked to sleep with HIV + men? am really confused and Sad.My prayer and hope is that the infected women will be taken care off.
The report should be taken with a pinch of salt. The figures are much higher than the general infection rate. Taken literally this report would imply that, unless people use condoms in every se.xual encounter, half of the population contract the HIV virus every 12 months. How long would it take before 99% of the population becomes HIV positive.
1340 women were injected ith the gel 1 hour before intercourse. Where did they get the HIV infected men. or was it just one guy? Was the HIV inserted artificially. We need clarity or somebody will go to Mukobeko.
Put more information before we make conclusions . Where did you get the HIV infected men? Are they the partners to these women? This trial is very suspicious how do you subject women to such a disease which if contracted sticks with them kwati ni headache ati if the take Tylenol or is Panadol, they will be cured? Use animals or something else .. can you shade more light on this trial? Who gave this a go ahead? Pa Zed pali drama mwe
Give more information before we make conclusions . Where did you get the HIV infected men? Are they the partners to these women? This trial is very suspicious how do you subject women to such a disease which if contracted sticks with them kwati ni headache ati if the take Tylenol or is it Panadol, they will be cured? Use animals or something else .. can you shade more light on this trial? Who gave this a go ahead? Pa Zed pali drama mwe
Its buffling that a reporter worthy of his salt can put up such a useless piece of sentationalism. Can you give real facts about the study and please give figure that you can account for, this is a serious allegation and what you are doing is not helpful in any way. If this gel worked you would have been one of the people to have benefitted.
May we get proper explanation why these trials were done on innocent people. You chose Mazabuka because of the poor status of the women. No one who is well to do would accept to risk his life. By the way how much did you pay them for them to sign their death warranty.
shaaaaaaaaaame! shaaaaaaame! why didn’t they carry the trials in Britain where the the drug was developed. is it a scientifical research or a form of human desctruction.will those women compensated? will these devils or infact satnas be persecuted? human right NGOs please help me. because these people infected are very inocent people who does not deserve this …….our leaders shame on you for allowing such acts……chinibaba mwaziba!!!!
🙁 they even intend to carry out more research on 40 women at where? how do these researchers live with them selvies.what they are doing is violation of human rights,what this women signed binding contracts.what do u expect from poor women.am sad to learn of this,i speak as a citizen of Zambia.are they poor now experiment objects? [-(
God help us! why zambia and not uk….**** thez fools.u cant infect those poor women and go scot free.God help us…..