China approves use of anti-AIDS tonic
By Anil K. Joseph

Beijing, February 26,2003 [Press Trust of India]: China has approved nation-wide clinical use of a new anti-aids drug, based on traditional Chinese medicine, believed to be the most effective ever used in the country.
‘ Immunicin’ tonic, successfully tested on 350 patients, developed by Cao Heyang, a research professor at Chinese academy of sciences, has been registered and obtained the approval of the state drug administration of China, media reports said today.
‘‘ Different from other aids drugs, Immunicin tonic is designed to prevent HIV virus from entering the body cells while increasing the quantity and quality of white blood cells and stimulating the immune system. Then it restrains viral activity by bringing the immune system back to normal, Cao said.
Cao conducted tests on animals at a local laboratory and after ensuring the drug did not produce toxic side effects, increased the dosage on designated animals by 600 times and again found no toxic side effects.
Then he tested it on 31 AIDS patients in central China’s Henan province, after seeking the approval of the Ministry of Health. Test results showed the success rate was 80 per cent.
Zhao Wenli, a renowned expert with the AIDS Prevention and Treatment Centre under the Ministry of Health, said ‘Immunicin’ tonic has proved to be the most effective with the least toxic effects after tests.
This was because destruction of the immune system as a result of HIV was the crux of the virus infection.
Zhao believes the new drug would gain widespread popularity for its low production cost and lack of side effects.
HIV carriers in China have exceeded one million since the first case was found in 1985. Chinese medical experts fear that over 80 per cent of the patients might miss out on medical treatment as average cost of the treatment was too high.
Experts with the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention estimated the number of AIDS patients in China, currently between 80,000 and 100,000, would possibly double in five years. (PTI)