Central China's Henan
Province, which reported the biggest number of HIV/AIDS
patients in China, will kick off a new campaign next month to fight
against these afflictions with traditional Chinese medicines.
Many medical experts have concluded through decades of research
that traditional Chinese medicines have few side effects and are
much cheaper than most commonly used Western medicines, as well as
being effective in dealing with certain symptoms of AIDS and
HIV.
Efforts will be targeted mainly at the vast countryside of the
province, where most of Henan's HIV/AIDS carriers dwell.
Pilot hospitals will be selected, along with the establishment
of special teams of professionals, to explore the potential of
treating AIDS and HIV with traditional Chinese medicines, according
to a report from China Central Television (CCTV).
The number of HIV/AIDS carriers in Henan has risen to 35,000
over the past nine years, with the first case in the province being
confirmed in March 1995. Most of the patients were infected through
blood transfusions at illegal blood donor stations.
As most of these people are farmers and rural citizens with
little money, the current popular treatment of the disease with a
combination of chemical and biological medicines, known as cocktail
therapies, is just not affordable for most.
Patent expiration for major AIDS-treatment medicines, such as
Zidovudine, Stavudine, Didanosine and Zalcitabine, has lowered the
yearly treatment costs for an AIDS patient in China from at least
40,000 yuan (US$4,831) before 2002 to less than 20,000 yuan
(US$2,415) at present. But it is still too overwhelming for average
Chinese AIDS and HIV patients, most of whom have lost their sources
of income.
The Ministry of Health estimated there were 840,000 HIV/AIDS
patients in China in 2003.
Experts and industry insiders believe the use of traditional
Chinese medicines can help further reduce AIDS treatment costs,
expecting the cost of combining traditional Chinese medicines with
chemical drugs to treat HIV/AIDS patients to range between 4,000
yuan (US$483) and 6,000 yuan (US$725) per year.
There is great potential for traditional Chinese medicines to
help treat HIV/AIDS, said Lin Ruichao, director of the Department
of Traditional Chinese Medicine at the Beijing-based National
Institute for the Control of Pharmaceuticals and Biological
Products.
However, the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) is very
cautious in handling out related licenses, since the curative
effects, as well as possible side effects, of traditional Chinese
medicines are still uncertain in this regard.
Only one traditional Chinese medicine, named
Tangcaopian, has won a SFDA license, and that was inked
only last month.
(China Daily May 4, 2004)