National Aids Council, ZADHR Responds to Magaya’s HIV & Aids Cure Claims

National AIDS Council (NAC), an organisation enacted to coordinate and facilitate the national multi-sectoral response to HIV and AIDS, has responded to Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries leader Walter Magaya‘s claims that he had found a cure for HIV and Aids as well as cancer-related illnesses.

Tapuwa Magure, NAC Chief Executive officer told local tabloid Newsday that Magaya should first subject his herb to clinical trial before going public, which includes using the drug on animals before taking it on human beings.

Said Magure:

“I have just heard the prophet’s assertions. Every clinical trial or experiment on human beings has to undergo rigorous tests before it is approved by the medical research council of a country, including Zimbabwe. The studies must be ethical, not exploiting the subjects and not subjecting them to poisons.

I am not aware of any such clinical trial having being approved in Zimbabwe and also of any such study having gone on here. The prophet must really provide all this data to prove that a scientific trial has really taken place and show the results.”

The NAC boss also added that “so far, there is no cure for HIV”.

Also concerned about Magaya’s conduct is the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR), who have for long accused faith healers of encouraging people to dump medication on false claims they had been miraculously healed.

In a cautionary communique which stemmed from the health watch dog’s information department, ZADHR said it is their conviction that any claims to cure HIV must only be made in the presence of irrefutable scientific evidence obtained through proper and ethical research methodologies.

Here is the full statement:

The Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights takes great exception to the recent claims by Prophet W Magaya that he has found a cure for HIV and AIDS. ZADHR acknowledges the prophet’s right to freedom of worship and his entitlements to his beliefs.

However, it is the conviction of ZADHR that any claims to cure HIV must only be made in the presence of irrefutable scientific evidence that is obtained through proper and ethical research methodologies.

Such unverified claims have the potential to increase the number of Anti Retroviral Therapy defaulters, increased risky behaviour practices and exposure to potentially harmful side effects of the herbs. ZADHR calls upon

1. Prophet Magaya to publicly reverse his claims that he had a cure for HIV and AIDS as there is no empirical research that proves his claims.
2. The Minister of Health Dr Obidiah Moyo to publicly censure Prophet Magaya and also institute an investigation into the safety of the herbs he is claiming to have.
3. The National AIDS Council and all other HIV related civil society groups to warn the public in the potential disastrous effects of these unverified claims.

Provision of accurate health information is a key pillar of the constitutionally enshrined right to health and ZADHR is saddened by this incident.

ZADHR Information Department

Last Sunday Dr Magaya told his congregants during a Sunday service that he had found a cure for HIV and Aids as well as cancer-related illnesses and that the cure was made from herbs found in Zimbabwe and Mozambique. He said it took him two years to find the organic cure, adding he did the research with his Indian counterparts.

“I have been praying for it, and I have been concentrating on it, but I want to assure you, the world may deny it, but they will eventually agree because you cannot fight with facts and win. Facts are facts.

“I have seen the hand of the Lord healing his people. I have seen testimonies and I have prayed for people. But while praying, I asked God to lead me to something that can help many. He showed me a tree, he showed me my counterparts in India. We have tested it and found out that it works. I can stand in front of you as a man of God and say I have found a cure for Aids,” Magaya said.

Asked by a journalist from Zambia’s Daily Mail if he had tested the cure on anyone, Magaya said the cure had been tested on people living with HIV and “these people have gone negative”.

He said if a person takes the medication, made from an Aguma plant, within 14 days, his CD4 count will have gone up by 200%, suppressing the virus before it eventually disappears.

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