JOIN UNITED NATIONS PROGRAMME ON HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) (UNICEF, UNDP,UNEPA, UNESCO, WHO, World Bank)

	Sh.Saleh Bin Zaid Saleh Bin Ali Bin Abdul Aziz P.O.Box 20744 Dubai United Arab Emirates
In replay please refer to : jp/mk	15 January 1996

Dear Sheikh Saleh Bin Zaid Saleh,

Thank you for your letter of 4 January 1996.

We regret to inform you that the Join United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has no funds to support the development of treatments of established HIV infection or AIDS such as new drugs, nutritional supplements, herbs or traditional medicines. In view of resource limitations, UNAIDS is currently limited to following up the scientific literature on the results of studies on different treatment methods.

UNAIDS stresses the principle that new treatments be tested in properly designed preclinical and clinical studies before their use be generalized among patients. It feels that it is the responsibilities of their promoters to provide the public with proof of their efficacy, generated according to international "Good Clinical Practice" guidelines, which can be obtained from the Drug Management programme of the World Health Organization.

The currently available data on the products you propose do not seem to satisfy the above standard. We would, therefore, encourage you to generate the data that would enable an assessment of the proposed therapies. Unfortunately, we currently have no funds available for such research, and thus are not in a position to support your efforts.

We thank you for your interest in UNAIDS, and send you our best regards.

Yours sincerely, Dr.Joseph Perriens Policy, Strategy and Research Join United Nations Programee On HIV/AIDS(UNAIDS)