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AIDS drug resistance under discussion

    JOHANNESBURG

    South African Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang is meeting with AIDS experts after a recent warning by the Medicines Control Council (MCC) about Nevirapine resistance in HIV-positive mothers.

    Ministry of Health spokesman Sibani Mngadi told the South African Press Association: "All these people [AIDS experts] attended the Bangkok conference and they can share with the others findings from other parts of the world."

    Concerns about the safety of the drug surfaced when research conducted by the MCC, manufacturer Boehringer Ingelheim and the National Institute for Communicable Diseases revealed that some HIV-positive mothers had developed resistance to the drug, creating uncertainty as to whether transmission of the virus was being blocked or not.

    As a result, the MCC recommended a combination of anti-AIDS drugs, rather than a single dose of Nevirapine, for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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