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Nevirapine registered for use in 50 countries
Cecilia Russel The Star, May 5 2002. Reprinted courtesy of Independent Newspapers (Pty) Ltd.
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The AIDS drug Nevirapine is registered in more than 50 countries around the world for preventing maternal transmission of HIV, the Sunday Independent has reported.
This raises doubts about the government's claims that Nevirapine is toxic and should not be made freely available to HIV-positive pregnant women.
A list of the countries using Nevirapine shows that is registered in 53 countries, including Botswana, Brazil, Thailand, China and Taiwan, to prevent maternal transmission of the AIDS virus. A further 32 countries, including the US and European Union, have registered the drug for chronic use. This includes use by HIV-positive women throughout pregnancy.
"The suggestion that all these countries are playing with women's lives is ludicrous," said Mark Heywood, a spokesperson for the Treatment Action Campaign.
Boehringer-Ingelheim, which makes the drug, on Saturday confirmed the accuracy of the list. A spokesperson said the company had compiled the list for the Medicines Control Council at its request.
The MCC has had the list since April 22. Yet, last Tuesday night, just over 36 hours before the Constitutional Court case over Nevirapine started, the MCC said it was probing the drug's registration.
On Thursday, state advocate Marumo Moerane SC told the court that the long-term safety of the drug was in doubt. |
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