Fridae

Hundreds of people with HIV have flocked to the Ban Bang Phakong health clinic in Chachoengsao Province because it's distributing what many people hope is a miracle cure for Aids. People who take the V-1 Immunator pills hope for the best, while the government has held back its endorsement.

Some patients have traveled far - as far as the United States for the pills (the government has yet to certify it as a medicine). One couple who came for the pills from Sakon Nakorn, Thailand, told the Bangkok Post that, after two or three years of treatment, their latest HIV tests came back negative.

Of course, a negative result for most HIV tests means that there are no HIV-fighting antibodies in a blood sample, not that there is no virus, so a negative result for someone who has had HIV is not necessarily a good thing.

The government is wary of V-1 Immunator. Dr Anupong Chitvarakorn, who directs the Aids Division, told the Post that the subcommittee on vaccines had decided that it was not, in fact, a vaccine, but it was acceptable as a food supplement. While he didn't say that V-1 Immunator was ineffective, he did worry that people were viewing it as a cure for HIV. Believing this, patients might not take the medications that have been proven to help fight the virus.

Still, the crowds continue to throng to the clinic for treatment for the as-yet-incurable disease. One American had guarded hopes for the treatment. He told the Post: "I think I'll stay in Thailand to see how the treatment turns out."