ARE the machines used in the treatment of HIV still accurate? Well, this is the question paused to me last week by former politician and diplomat Isaac Mumpasha who has now developed a herbal drug called LOSO which is used for the treatment of HIV and other chronic ailments. Reverend Mumpasha”s question comes in the wake of varying laboratory results from different clinics for the same patients and is calling on government to investigate the matter.
According to him, he says he has had patients coming to see him over his drug and as usual, he demands for latest viral load results.
“But surprisingly, a person would go to a private laboratory and in the same week go to a government clinic you find the results of the viral load tests are very different. Is it the machines or human error?
This is a serious matter which needs to be fully exploited by those in authority and addressed because it makes it difficult to assist a person with treatment and the same time, people are losing lives as a result of this,” he said.
He says one person whose viral load was at 9, 000 copies at one of the prominent private laboratories in Lusaka found that her viral load was 300 copies at a government clinic.
The tests were done within a few days of the other. Previously, some people had taken his drug and had seen a considerable drop in the viral load and it never rose again up to now.
Those who took the treatment three years or two years ago are still either undetectable or their viral load has remained static at the lowest levels.
He cited an example of a Kabwe man who he says at the time he took the LOSO, his viral load was at 198, 304 copies.
He says the Kabwe man had volunteered to test the LOSO on his body and was taking a capsule per day for three months. His viral load reduced to 50 copies and todate it has remained just like that.
“This young man of Kabwe recently came back to show me his results and asked for the capsules for 15 people whom he said he wanted to help in Kabwe. This is when I realised that my drug can actually kill the virus,” he says.
“Here in Lusaka, a number of people also volunteered to try the drug. One lady who took the drug has had her viral load undetectable for almost three years now though I had advised her at the time that to completely wipe out the virus, she should take the drug for another two months.
“An eight year child had a viral load of 39, 960 copies and after taking my drug for a month, the viral load came to 822 copies,” Rev Mumpasha says.
He however, emphasises on the issue of the machines used saying the conditions of the machines could not be the same as when they were brought into Zambia years back and that something should be done. If it is human error, then it should be corrected because when a patient calls a doctor about the varying viral load results, the doctors normally say “don’t worry.”
Rev Mumpasha says the government should take keen interest in the drugs that people are developing especially for the treatment of HIV.
He says government should be inquisitive and those with the gift of research should be involved. He adds “less inquisitiveness by government has led to loss of many lives. Another issue is that emphasis should shift from CD4 count to viral load in the treatment of HIV.
This is because even if one’s CD4 has increased, as long as the viral load is high, there is nothing happening to that person. Reducing viral load first is very important,” he says.
He says what is needed was to have government supervised herbal clinics so that whatever is used on people is properly tested in laboratories so that proper dosage is determined.
As it is now, dosage is determined just by approximation. He says with government support, herbal medicines could help many people and could also be exported to other countries.
“Government does not know what problems I encounter when manufacturing the drug, what ingredients I use and where do I get them from and the empty capsules are very difficult to find. That is why government should be part of the herbal remedies.
My appeal, like my colleague Howard Maila did last week, is to President Edgar Lungu to take a keen interest in herbal medicines because you never know where the cure for HIV lies,” he says.
He says another problem is the poverty levels. Only a few can manage to go to private laboratories to do viral load or CD4 tests and it is not easy to do these at government clinics when you don’t have a card or file for that particular clinic.
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