*It is important to note that Dr. Carlos Perez recommends this remedy to boost immunity as a compliment to antiretrovirals, not as a replacement.
CARACAS (Reuters) - As Venezuela’s hyperinflation and chronic medicine shortages leave HIV patients with little hope of obtaining antiretroviral drugs, many are now relying on the leaves of a tropical tree known as the guasimo. For each dose, patients use around 50 leaves from the tree, which is often used for lumber and is also known as the West Indian elm, and run them through a blender with water. They then strain and drink the green liquid.
Doctors and patients alike have questioned the effectiveness of the remedy, which has for years been used in Venezuela and Brazil as a complement to pharmaceutical treatment. But HIV patients hoping to ward off AIDS increasingly see it as better than nothing.
“I have nothing to lose,” said one HIV-positive man as he prepared and drank the beverage, asking not to be identified because his co-workers are unaware of his diagnosis.
For years he received antiretrovirals provided for free by the state, but supplies dried up as the country’s socialist economic system unraveled. After five months of not taking medication, his doctor recommended the leaf concoction.
“My mind keeps telling me: I’m going to die, I got into this situation because the government doesn’t provide medication,” he said.
Dr. Carlos Perez began recommending the treatment at the start of 2018 when the shortage of antiretrovirals became acute. He tells patients to drink the guasimo leaf beverage twice a day for a month. Read more via Reuters
Venezuela: Personas con VIH recurren a bebida de hierbas por falta de antirretrovirales
Con cuidado, el hombre escoge las hojas verdes del tamaño de la palma de una mano e introduce 50 de ellas en una licuadora a la que agrega 750 centímetros cúbicos de agua. Luego cuela el líquido verde, lo sirve en un vaso de vidrio y lo bebe despacio.
"Sabe a lechuga con agua", dijo el hombre que vive con VIH y mantiene el anonimato porque sus colegas de trabajo desconocen su diagnostico en medio de los prejuicios que aún subsisten.
El licuado se hace con las hojas de guásimo, o guazuma ulmifolia, un árbol mediano oriundo de la América Tropical.
Y pese a que su efectividad es cuestionada por expertos, su uso se impuso en Venezuela entre las personas con el virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana (VIH) ante la escasez de fármacos antirretrovirales, una de las facetas más dramáticas de la crisis económica de la nación.
Con cinco meses sin tomar sus medicamentos porque no los había en el estatal Instituto de Seguros Sociales, que los venía entregando de forma gratuita desde inicios del año 2000, su médico le recomendó a mediados de año tomar el licuado.
"No tengo nada que perder (...) la mente lo que te trabaja es de una manera: me voy a morir, mi vida llegó hasta acá por un desfase en el gobierno, que no está cumpliendo con la medicación", dijo. Read more via Reuters