The 1st December of every year is World AIDS Day. There is a new innovation to help HIV patients. This innovation could potentially be an alternative to antiviral drugs. And the good thing about it is it causes fewer side effects.
A Thai-based pharmaceutical company has unveiled positive results from its immunotherapy product, which could potentially be used as an alternative to conventional HIV antivirals.
Developed by Asian Phytoceuticals, this immunotherapy product shows promising results from human trials, with 8 HIV-positive subjects who took this product showing better health conditions, along with a desirable white blood cell response.
Mr. Pichaet Wiriyachitra, CEO of Asian Phytoceuticals, said this immunotherapy product is made from mangosteen peel extract, along with extracts from Centella Asiatica, guava, soybeans, and black sesame seeds.
He said this innovation can help HIV patients suffer less from the side effects of conventional antiviral drugs. On the World AIDS Day, Mr. Suthep Ou-oun, head of the House of Representatives’ labor affairs committee, led a campaign joined by government agencies and private firms in denouncing workplace discrimination against HIV-positive people.
Mr. Suthep said medical advancements have allowed HIV patients to live their normal lives within the society, which should include employment free from discrimination.
He labeled the practice of HIV tests prior to employment as discrimination, saying this requirement more commonly enforced in the past has led to a labor shortage, which negatively affects the country’s development. (NNT)