Doctors association slams Magaya over HIV cure claims… urges Health Ministry to publicly censure him
The Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR) has slammed claims by controversial preacher Walter Magaya that he has found a cure for HIV and AIDS.
Magaya used a church service of his Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries (PHD) and then later a press conference also on Sunday to make the shock announcement.
“ZADHR acknowledges the prophet’s right to freedom of worship and his entitlements to his beliefs. However it is the conviction of ZADHR that any claims to cure HIV must only be made in the presence of irrefutable scientific evidence that is obtained through proper and ethical research methodologies.
The doctors group said “such unverified claims have the potential to increase the number of Anti Retroviral Therapy defaulters, increased risky behaviour practices and exposure to potentially harmful side effects of the herbs.
The association has demanded that Magaya “publicly reverse his claims that he had a cure for HIV and AIDS as there is no empirical research that proves his claims.”
They also want the Minister of Health Dr Obidiah Moyo to publicly censure Prophet Magaya and also institute an investigation into the safety of the herbs he is claiming to have.
ZADHR urged “the National AIDS Council and all other HIV related civil society groups to warn the public in the potential disastrous effects of these unverified claims.
“Provision of accurate health information is a key pillar of the constitutionally enshrined right to health and ZADHR is saddened by this incident.”
Magaya claimed to have discovered the plant two years ago – but had waited “because I wanted it to be chemically proven, scientifically proven”.
“God has given me a revelation, we tested it and it’s perfect. God showed me a certain tree and certain people. We have found the cure for HIV and Aids,” Magaya announced during the service.
The controversial preacher said he was prepared for the Ministry of Health in Zimbabwe to scientifically test his HIV cure claiming the cure was developed from a plant called Aguma which is found in Zimbabwe. This was mixed with a different herb from Mozambique.
Magaya said he had formed a company with his Indian partners called Aretha Medical and this had developed the cure which would be administered on patients using tablets and capsules.
“I know the world will dismiss it, but they will eventually agree. I’ve tested it fully on human beings and a lot of these human beings have gone negative.
“At this stage, we’re 100 percent organic because we find that there’s no side effect. We’re mixing plants from here in Zimbabwe another one from Mozambique.
“The government is free to summon our own research board and test this medicine for themselves. As for me, I’ve my own testimonies but people will listen to a minister rather than a mere prophet.”
“I was offered $56 million by an American company for me to point them to the tree. We are the first people to discover this plant, so we have intellectual rights. This plant is not in any botanic records.”
Magaya said HIV was “an African problem which was waiting for an African solution.” The preacher claims to have secured a clinical licence and says he is building a laboratory, “which could be the biggest in Africa.” He says he will donate 29 000 tablets to patients in his birth pace of Hurungwe.
