The Federal Ministry of Health has warned people living with HIV/AIDS not to discontinue their Anti-retroviral drugs for alternative therapy speculated to be effective for the cure of the virus.
The Project Manager of FCT Agency for the Control of Aids (FACA), Uche Okoro gave the warning on Thursday in Abuja following reports that some people living with HIV and AIDS were abandoning their drugs for some other medications acclaimed to be effective for curing the virus permanently.
Okoro warned that scientists are yet to discover the cure for AIDS stressing that those claiming to have found the cure were only attempting to defraud unsuspecting patients.
According to him, "as far as HIV is concerned in Nigeria, it remains a chronic ailment that the cure is yet to be found. Those living with the disease must take their drugs for life and that is why adherence to counseling was introduced to educate the HIV patients on the need to take the ARV drugs as long as they live. Those claiming to have found the cure all over the world have not justified or convinced scientists beyond reasonable doubt on their claim to cure HIV/AIDs.”
He added that “If you have a new medication for any ailment, your claim must follow a laid down procedure because medicine is a science therefore any vaccine or medication must go through certain trials.”
Mr Okoro further stated that those who had abandoned their medication in the recent past came back in terrible conditions, but assured that scientists would soon develop vaccines for the prevention of the virus and disease.
