[e-drug] homeopathic ART in Botswana?

[Ellen Ho <eyho@yahoo.com>]

E-DRUG: homeopathic ART in Botswana?
-------------------------------------------------
[Any E-drugger know this drug from Brazil? Any evidence? Are we making
people happy with placebo's? At least this doctor does not ask money for his
Rx.
Crossposted from AF-AIDS with thanks. NN]

Hi,

I am writing on behalf of a volunteer worker of the Gabane Home Based Care
Society of Botswana. The volunteer is a friend of mine from Canada and she
is volunteering through Canadian Crossroads International. She does not have
convenient telephone or internet access in Botswana so I am doing the
research for her.

The Home Based Care (HBC) workers have been providing care for its patients
in the area around Gabane and Gaborone (capital of Botswana). In late July
the patients were transported to a main clinic in Mogoditshane (a town close
to Gabane) where a doctor called Dr. Ossman is offering free consultation.
None of the workers in the HBC (including the nurses) know anything about
this treatment except that it is free.

The treatment is from a drug company called Canova do Brazil. The doctor at
the clinic is offering a homeopathic immune boosting medicine in the form of
droplets (Gotas in Portuguese) and inhalant (the medicine has to be "succus"
[tapped] 10 times before use, and the "Nubulizer" [inhalant machine] could
be purchased at about $100 Canadian).

The doctor requested quantitative as well as qualitative information about
each patient that will be using this medicine. The doctor also explained
that this medicine has been used successfully for 5 years in Brazil.

The HBC workers are questioning whether their patients are being used as an
experiment. They requested for written information about the treatment but
the only literature the doctor gave them was in Portugese. My friend tried
to question the doctor more but has failed to find out from him where or who
is sponsoring this distribution. Needless to say, the HBC workers feel
rather unsettled about this. But, at the same time, some treatment beats no
treatment at all.

The nurse at HBC had asked me to find out as much information about this
program as possible.

I have read about free anti-retroviral drugs provided to African nations.
However, I have yet been able to find much about this type of homeopathic
treatment. I am wondering if anyone has any experience with or comments
about this treatment. Is this a new form of treatment and are the patients
in Botswana basically doing trials for the drugs? What type of results can
be expected of this treatment? Is this treatment being given anywhere else?
Any information would be much appreciated.

I haven't been able to find anything so I am posting the message in the
hopes that someone would have heard or known something about it.

Thank you,
Ellen Ho
E-mail: eyho@yahoo.com

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