Beware of HIV Immune Booster Claims

uBhejane Mixture: A Claim As A Hiv Immune Booster

uBhejane is the isiZulu for a Rhinoceros which is regarded as a powerful and virile animal in many communities in the World, hence the wide-scale and criminal slaughter and poaching of these magnificent creatures.

uBhejane product manufacturer Zebulon Gwala claims that it is made up of 83 ingredients and is a traditional nutritional supplement which may be used by HIV-positive people as an immune booster. There were initial claims that the product had been registered by the Medicine Control Council which was later retracted.

The isiZulu name of these magnificent creatures is now also used to market a so-called HIV immune booster which has not been tested or listed with that Council. It is also claimed that the mixture is non-toxic and was tested at Medunsa through a study commissioned by the late Minister of Health, Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang.

Gwala is quoted as saying the laboratory testing of traditional herbs is ridiculous as people are dying and the mixture does bring some relief (for)....HIV/AIDS. He does not claim that uBhejane cures AIDS but he is of the view that taking the product has no side effects and it helps people. The uBhejane supplement is said to be selling for R181 for two litres and is available from many traditional healers in the Province.

The Medicine Control Council has denied the registration or listing of the uBhejane supplement. A Department of Health spokesman said that a product was either registered or not, there was no listing process.

Fidel Radebe of the National Department of Health said that until clinical studies are completed, the product should neither be traded nor made available to patients.

Mr Zonke Ndlovu, the Policy Communication and Research Coordinator for the Treatment Action Campaign in the Mgungundlovu District said if people are led to believe the supplement is registered, there will be a huge problem as they are desperate to find alternative medication because once you are on ARVs, you have to take them for life. If there is a belief that alternative medicines are better than ARVs, then people will dump the ARVs and patients may develop resistance to any form of medication.
Member employers are requested to alert those of their employees taking ARVs about the danger of switching to so-called HIV immune boosters or supplements not clinical tested and registered by the Medicine Control Council. Not only could it be expensive but also fatal in the long run!

Pieter Rautenbach