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Manto warns of new Aids strains
01/12/2003 18:40 - (SA)
Cape Town - Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang has warned that the country's health workers will have to be carefully trained in the use of antiretroviral drugs to avoid the development of new HIV strains.
Speaking at a World Aids Day rally in Bloemfontein, the health minister referred to the recent decision to roll-out
antiretrovirals (ARVs) to HIV- positive victims and said: "We need our health workers to make a special effort to understand these drugs and get the right training to handle them.
"These are powerful drugs that are taken every day for the rest of the patient's life and there are risks that come with using them.
"If not taken properly and carefully monitored, they can have a toxic effect. "If misused they can also contribute to the development of new strains of HIV that are resistant to available medicine. Drug resistance will pose a serious public health threat and require much more resources to manage."
Tshabalala-Msimang did not refer directly to the long struggle by Aids activists to get government to provide ARVs, but said that people were going to be given choices in terms of the treatment options they preferred. Traditional remedies
"We recognise that many of our people are taking traditional medicines. Through the Medical Research Council, we are doing research to ensure that people use medicines that are effective and of good quality.
"We also want to ensure that the owners of those traditional medicines that bring benefit to people with Aids get protection in terms of their right to intellectual property," she said.
- I-Net Bridge (News24)
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