AZT trials in developing countries (4)
--------------------------------------
Janice,
My posting is indeed very political and self-serving, no shame in
that, it is high time that we recognise the underlying tide which
sweeps health care policy making and governs research initiatives. Is
it not a political act to sideline the dominant health system in an
African country, continent by modern health system agents? How do you
expect the indigenous sector to react? By offering the other cheek.
There is no shame, I repeat in treating a political issue in a po-
litical manner. It sounds as if you feel indigenous healers should
not steep so low, but everyone else has stooped that low! It is in
the political arena that limitations and regulations governing (in-
digenous) health care are decided and will be imposed.
Self-serving, show me one sector that does not observe, participate
and lobby issues from a self-serving viewpoint. The indigenous health
sectors, in Africa especially, have been and are step-motherly
treated by governments and modern science alike. Did you read my
posting well, I am not against AZT-trials but seek a form of compen-
satory scheme for the economical deprived third world populations too
often targeted but not beneficiary of research projects of all kind.
I referred to arms sales and compensatory schemes which are common-
place when one country sells arms to another and some parts will be
produced in recipient buying country as form of compensation. Here
other compensations could be offered, the point is that in the case
of AZT-trials one cannot only offer compensation to a health sector
directly involved but has to compensate all the people of the country
targeted by the research project.
Such compensation will have to involve all health systems and should
be holistic in nature, meaning not deal with HIV/AIDS as isolated
from other primary health care issues and specific cultural beliefs.
I also support the views of Edward Green and Wilbur Hoff (in their
IHN-l postings of 2/10/97) where they see placebos replaced by natu-
ral medicines (Hoff) or immune enhancing herbs, vitamins, and miner-
als (Green) to validate the research project in the light of mother's
hope for medication. It is certainly not my intention to declare AZT-
trials unethical and would like to submit that particularly in the
HIV/AIDS research the need for a cure sometimes calls for less rigid
ethics in order to speed up procedures which could or should eventu-
ally bring desperately awaited relief for the HIV infected.
Regards,
Hugo Van Damme
Project Coordinator
Traditional Healer Organization for Africa - NGOMA
mailto:ngoma@alpha.futurenet.co.za
--
Send mail for the `AFRO-NETS' conference to `afro-nets@usa.healthnet.org'.
Mail administrative requests to `majordomo@usa.healthnet.org'.
For additional assistance, send mail to: `owner-afro-nets@usa.healthnet.org'.