Abstract

PIP: Professor Arthur Obel, a Kenyan scientist who claims to have found the cure for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), through treatment with either of two drugs (Kemron and Pearl Omega) is being sued by patients upon whom Kemron was tested, and Pearl Omega has been banned by the Kenyan Ministry of Health. The backlog of cases in the Kenyan judicial system will allow Obel to avoid answering questions about Kemron, which was launched as an AIDS cure in 1993, while the case is coming to court. Obel then announced in a book, which was published in March, that Pearl Omega had converted the positive serostatus for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) of seven patients. The Kenyan government had initially supported further clinical trials of Pearl Omega, which was announced to parliament by Assistant Health Minister Basil Criticos on April 24. A week later, Health Minister Joshua Angatia denounced Pearl Omega as an herbal concoction and stated that Obel had "bent the rules." Philip Mbithi, an old schoolfriend of Obel and former Chief Secretary in the Office of the President, is thought to have secured extensive research funds for Obel, who had compared himself to historical figures who had made important discoveries that were initially greeted with skepticism. Obel's reputation with the public is far from discredited. He was cheered during a lecture at Kenyatta University in Nairobi when he offered to donate Pearl Omega to the campus; in the same talk, he said that condoms imported from Europe were infected with HIV, a statement the government has yet to condemn.