TOPVEIN, an HIV herbal remedy produced by Zambian Dr Mendez Fernandez and believed to provide 99% cure for HIV and Aids, has found its way onto the Zimbabwean market.
EVERSON MUSHAVA,CHIEF REPORTER
NewsDay yesterday toured a backyard office curiously named Lords-Hill Open Hospital in Harare’s Southerton industrial area where the drug is being sold to HIV patients at $105 for a month’s supply. A man at the “hospital”’s dispensary counter who only identified himself as Lemiel said the herbal treatment could cure Aids within a year by boosting patients’ CD4 and CD8 cells.
He said the drug could be used alongside other anti-retroviral treatment, but said patients might experience drowsiness and sometimes pass out yellow urine and stool. Limiel said his company was in Harare and Bulawayo
But Health and Child Care deputy Minister Paul Chimedza said it was illegal to distribute drugs which are not registered with the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ).
“If anyone is going to buy drugs, they should buy them from someone who is registered and those drugs must be guaranteed that they are safe for human consumption,” Chimedza said.
“Therefore, anyone who buys drugs from streets or the backyard is exposing themselves to harm and selling those drugs is illegal.
“We do not encourage people to sell drugs from the backyard. We have one of the most efficient drug authorities in the world and for anyone to sell a drug, they first have to register it. We even inspect factories that manufacture drugs to see if they meet certain requirements.”
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Conctacted for comment last night, MCAZ director-general Gugu Mahlangu said TopVein was not a registered drug in Zimbabwe.
“Topvein is not a registered drug with MCAZ,” Mahlangu said.
“If we locate the person or persons distributing an unregistered medicine and making unproven claims regarding a product, we will report them to the police for appropriate action. We cannot believe after the previous episodes with products like Mocrea, that the public could still be so misled by advertisements not supported by the Ministry of Health and Child Care,” she said
“It is the responsibility of every citizen to try and find out as much as they can about any new drugs offered by peddlers before wasting their hard-earned money. Zimbabweans are now on Facebook, Twitter etc. As responsible citizens, they should investigate and question such claims by consulting their health care providers. It is actually detrimental to their health to take drugs of unknown origin and whose safety is also unknown.”
According to Topvein International’s official website, the drug was adopted as an alternative HIV and Aids remedy in Zambia in 2006.
The drug company was working with the University of Pretoria in South Africa to improve the drug.
A report posted of the company’s website reads: “A parliamentary confidential report reveals that the three herbal formulas which the Zambian government tested between 2005 and 2006 through the National Aids Council are graded as follows: Topvein (mayeyannin) — is 99% effective against HIV and Aids. Second in line is SF-2000 graded at 70%. And third is Mailaicin grade at 60% effective. Topvein is the best of all herbal formulas tested against HIV and Aids.”
