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Nevirapine OK by Friday?
24/04/2003 09:23 - (SA)
Willemien Brümmer , Die Burger
Cape Town - The Medicines Control Council is expected to make a decision on Friday about the use in South Africa of anti-Aids The drug, described at one stage as "poisonous" by the government, has been labelled "safe and effective" by the authorative National Institute of Health in the United States.
The NIH has just completed an investigation into the methods used to gather information during tests conducted in Uganda in 1997.
The efficacy of nevirapine was tested during that time to prevent the transfer of HIV from mother to child.
The future of nevirapine was hotly debated in South Africa last year when the American Federal Drug Administration encountered problems with the "reporting and documentation" of the Ugandan tests.
The MCC threatened at the time to cancel the medicine's registration as an antiviral drug in South Africa.
The Democratic Alliance said on Wednesday they were waiting for a public apology from Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang after "her unfounded fears about nevirapine's safety".
'Its safety was never questioned in US'
Sandy Kalyan of the DA said: "She has to say how she aims to make the drug available as soon as possible at all government hospitals.
"The NIH's investigation into nevirapien was a technical matter - the safety of the drug was never questioned in the United States.
"Dr No (Tshabalala-Msimang) exploited the investigation for her own purposes.
"Her reaction was unsuitable and humiliating, and caused further delays to the introduction of a full-scale nevirapine programme.
Professor Peter Eagles of the MCC said on Wednesday that a special task force would supply all available information about nevirapine on Friday.
A final decision about de-regulation would be taken then.
- Die Burger
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