Ubhejane

Ubhejane (sometimes stylized as uBhejane, Zulu for "black rhinoceros")<ref name="guardian"> McGreal, Chris. No drugs, just take vitamins: the dangerous advice to cure HIV(link). {{{website}}}.

14 September 2008.

</ref> is a South African herbal medicine marketed as a treatment for HIV/AIDS, reportedly the most popular alternative medicine treatment for the disease in South Africa.<ref name=guardian/> It was invented by former truck driver Zeblon Gwala, who has claimed that he got the idea for it in a dream.<ref name=specter> Specter, Michael. The Denialists(link). {{{website}}}.

12 March 2007.

</ref> Gwala advises his patients to take ubhejane instead of antiretroviral drugs (ARVs),<ref> Bateman, Chris. Taking Ubhejane by the Horns(link). {{{website}}}.

May 2006.

</ref> saying that while both ubhejane and ARVs work, ubhejane, unlike ARVs, does not have side effects.<ref name=guardian/> The price at which ubhejane was sold has been reported variously at $25 and $50 US dollars.<ref name=nattrass/><ref name=sun2/>

Ingredients

Ubhejane consists of two herbal remedies: one is sold in a bottle with a blue cap, the other in a bottle with a white one. Both are black and liquid in appearance. The blue one, according to Gwala, fights the virus that causes AIDS, and the other is said to boost the immune system.<ref>{{{last}}},

 Geffen, Nathan, 
  
 Debunking Delusions: The Inside Story of the Treatment Action Campaign. online version, 
  
 Jacana Media, 
 2010, 
  
  
  
  
  
  
 Pages: 85,</ref> Ubhejane has 89 herbal ingredients, which Gwala says he collects from all over Africa and mixes together by hand.<ref name=cullinan>{{{last}}}, 
 Cullinan, Kerry, 
  
 The Virus, Vitamins and Vegetables: The South African HIV/AIDS Mystery. online version, 
  
 Jacana Media, 
 2009, 
  
  
  
  
  
  
 Pages: 149,</ref> Gwala was criticized by AIDS expert Dennis Sifris for refusing to reveal the ingredients of ubhejane.<ref name=sun2/>

Research

In 2005, Gwala approached the dean of University of KwaZulu-Natal's medical school to ask them to conduct a clinical trial of ubhejane, but he said it was too soon for this, and suggested performing lab tests instead. The results of these tests showed that ubhejane was not toxic to cells, and that it kills bacteria.<ref name=sun2> Calvert, Scott. For some in Africa, it's 'magic' over pills(link). {{{website}}}.

20 August 2006.

</ref> One of ubhejane's most outspoken promoters, Herbert Vilakazi, claimed that this research had shown that the remedy was effective, but the university subsequently released a statement saying that this was not the case.<ref name=nattrass/>

Reaction

Support

Among the notable supporters of ubhejane was Obed Mlaba, who was the mayor of Durban during the 2000s,<ref name=cullinan/> as well as former South African health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang.<ref name=specter/> Gwala has responded to criticisms by saying that he has not claimed that ubhejane is a cure for HIV/AIDS, and that he has not told any of his patients to stop taking ARVs.<ref name="sun1"> Calvert, Scott. For some in Africa, it's `magic' over pills(link). {{{website}}}.

20 August 2006.

</ref>

Opposition

In 2007, the Democratic Alliance Party of South Africa requested a police investigation of Gwala, whom it described as a "backyard chemist" manufacturing a "fake AIDS cure."<ref name=guardian/> Ubhejane has also been implicated in causing liver failure, as well as causing the development of drug resistance, in some patients who took it.<ref name=nattrass>,

 AIDS and the Scientific Governance of Medicine in Post-Apartheid South Africa, 
 African Affairs, 
 
 Vol. 107(Issue: 427),
 pp. 157–176,
 DOI: 10.1093/afraf/adm087,</ref>

References

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