J Infect Chemother. 2000 Dec; 6(4): 196-9.

Anti-retroviral treatment in Nigeria: a review.

Anyiwo CE, Ifeanyichukwu M.

Department of Pathology, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, Nigeria. [email protected]

Research studies in Nigeria have been done primarily in the areas of epidemiology, clinical practice, virology, and laboratory diagnosis. Therapy for infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) types 1 and 2 has largely focussed on the treatment of the HIV disease (AIDS) rather than the infection. Therefore, opportunistic infections such as tuberculosis, diarrhea, Herpes zoster, and other skin conditions, and tumors (Kaposi's sarcoma) are essentially the targets for therapy. Two reasons are responsible for the dearth of data on anti-retroviral therapy in Nigeria: there was scepticism about zidovudine, the first anti-retroviral drug to be developed, because of its toxicity, and the subsequent reluctance of the Federal Government to allow it into the country. The other reason was the prohibitive cost, making it impossible for patients to afford. That notwithstanding, there have been several uncoordinated and unpublished clinical trials by hospitals in the private sector, as expected, without firm laboratory monitoring or back-up. This review discusses such attempts and the claims of traditional medicine practitioners, as well as pilot studies on private patients with the combination therapy of zidovudine and lamivudine, which agents were allowed into the country in the late 1990s. The patients showed appreciable rises in their CD4 counts, an indirect way of monitoring viral load. This finding was corroborated with results of clinical wellbeing, indicating that they benefitted from the administration of zidovudine and lamivudine.