Published on August 24, 2023, on a Facebook page, this viral post has garnered 4,300 likes, 449 comments, and 801 shares. The post claims: “Urgent urgent urgent urgent urgent. Don’t be ashamed of HIV/AIDS anymore because now there is a definitive cure; HIV is no longer a death sentence.”
Verification:
In an interview, Dr. Ouambita Maboro Roch, a public health advisor at the National Committee for the Fight Against HIV/AIDS (CNLS), stated: “I can assure you that since the discovery of HIV, there are drugs called antiretrovirals that block the multiplication of the virus in the blood and help rebuild the individual’s antibodies to protect them from other infections. However, there is no medication that completely cures this virus.”
“It’s a whole process; first, a qualified laboratory must develop a drug, then it must be tested on animals, and finally submitted to the WHO and a review committee before being made available to the public. This information is false,” confirmed Clindor Yamale, a general practitioner at the “Ami d’Afrique” HIV/AIDS treatment center in Boy-Arab.
According to Abel Gueret-Mayanga, president of the Central African Association of Green Fingers Victims of HIV/AIDS (ACADVS): “This is false. I have been living with HIV/AIDS for over 12 years, and I am still on antiretroviral treatment. On social media, scammers seek money and deceive patients living with HIV/AIDS, leading them to death, which is unacceptable,” he testified.
He continued, “With the HIV/AIDS virus, there is no definitive cure, but the medications can stop the virus’s progression,” he emphasized.
Furthermore, we conducted keyword searches for “HIV/AIDS cure” through the Google search engine. However, we found no results that correspond to this claim, nor any scientific data that approves a curative treatment. Instead, we found information on antiretroviral treatments that help reduce the amount of virus in the body of an infected patient, according to the WHO.
According to data from July 2023 published by the WHO, which Centrafrique Check was able to access: “There is no way to cure HIV infection. It is treated with antiretroviral drugs, which prevent the virus from replicating in the body. Furthermore, according to the same institution, currently, antiretroviral therapy (ART) does not cure HIV infection but helps strengthen the immune system of the infected person, allowing them to fight off other infections.”
“Currently, ART is a lifelong treatment that must be taken daily. It reduces the amount of virus in the body, which eliminates symptoms and allows affected individuals to live full and healthy lives. People living with HIV who are on ART and have no detectable virus in their blood do not transmit the virus to their sexual partners.”
Since the discovery of HIV/AIDS, there has been no curative treatment for the virus, according to the WHO, despite scientific advancements. However, antiretroviral therapy (ART) remains one of the solutions to combat this disease, according to this institution. In this context, false potions or medicines resurface on social media, giving false hope to those affected by the disease. Such is the case with this supposed remedy claiming to definitively cure HIV/AIDS.
Conclusion:
The post claiming that there is a treatment that definitively cures HIV/AIDS is false, as verified by Centrafrique Check.
