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The Treatment Advocacy and Literacy Campaign has written to Health Minister Joseph Kasonde challenging government to state its position on claims that the Sondashi Formula is a cure for HIV.

In a letter dated January 07 2015 addressed to Dr Kasonde, the Treatment Advocacy and Literacy Campaign Country Coordinator Felix Mwanza said people living with HIV would like to seek clarity over claims by Dr Sondashi that the SF 2000 cures HIV.

It said the concerns comes in the wake of TALC’s challenge to Dr Sondashi to stop telling Zambians that he will distribute the SF 2000 free of charge once elected President of Zambia in the forthcoming presidential election.

‘As an organisation that represents people living with, we cautioned members of the public not to be excited by what Dr Sondashi was claiming because his SF 2000 has not been proven to be a cure for HIV. However, today there has been a statement issued by a Political Assistant from Dr Sondashi’s party stating that the SF 2000 has been proven in the United States of America as well as South Africa to be a cure for HIV,’ the letter read in part.

It continued, ‘We find it difficult to understand especially now that the United States and South Africa have also been mentioned to have proven that SF 2000 cures HIV. Moreover, Dr Sondashi and his associates are claiming that there are people in Zambia who have been cured of HIV after taking the SF 2000.’

‘Our writing to you is to ask you to state Government’s position regarding the SF 2000 in the wake of revelations and claims that it is a cure for HIV and people in Zambia have been cured from HIV. We further ask your office to find on behalf of the Zambians from the United States Government and South Africa respectively, the countries that have been purported to have proved that the SF 2000 is a cure for HIV whether this is indeed true.’
The letter also demanded that Ambassadors of the United States and South Africa in Zambia furnish TAC with more details regarding these claims and revelations from Dr Sondashi and his associates.

‘As an organisation that advocates for people living with HIV interests, we always encourage our people on treatment to disclose and come out in the open if they wish and we have challenged Dr Sondashi before to parade those that have been cured from HIV and he has failed to do that. Instead, he keeps giving excuses that they fear being victimised or they would like to remain confidential about it.’

The letter read, ‘We respect and appreciate that each individual has teh right to confidentiality but we are not going to be taken for a ride and risk our people to start taking drugs whose efficacy has not been proven by authoritative institutions such as the World Health Organisation or indeed our own Zambian government.’

It continued, ‘ as stated before, we have to put it on record that we are not in any way against the clinical trials going ahead except that we have a duty to protect people living with HIV on treatment from many unapproved medicines that may endanger their lives especially when unorthodox methods and procedures are being exhibited.’