NIAID Will Pursue Clinical Trials of Low-Dose Alpha Interferon

Multicultural
AIDS
Coalition

566 Columbus Avenue
Boston, MA 02118
[phone]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
OCTOBER 28, 1992

Contact Person:
Rochelle L. Rollins, MPH
MAC Research Director
[phone] ext. 246

NIAID Will Pursue Clinical Trials of Low-Dose Alpha Interferon
For the past seven months the Multicultural AIDS Coalition has
worked earnestly to encourage the National Institute of Allergy
and Infectious Disease (NIAID) to conduct clinical trials on low
dose oral alpha interferon.
On October 26, 1992 a historic meeting was sponsored by the
National Medical Association (NMA) and the National Institute of
Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) in Washington, DC to discuss
the issue. The goals of the meeting were:
1) To understand the claims of efficacy asserted by primary care
physicians using the substance.
2) To make recommendations to the NIAID regarding additional
analyses or scientifically valid, ethical trials that should
be undertaken, if any.
Presenters included Drs. Barbara Justice, Abul Alim Muhammad,
Wilber Jordan, and Joseph Cummins. Dr. Davy Koech, Director of
the Kenya Medical Research Institute, was an invited speaker but
was unable to attend for logistic reasons. Each presenter
described his/her treatment regimen, patient population, mechanisms
for measuring treatment outcome and clinical findings.
The recommendation to NIAID was that not one but several AIDS
clinical trials were necessary to rigorously test the efficacy of
low dose oral alpha interferon. In the coming months the NIAID
and the NMA will work together to design the trials and select
sites for implementation. The Multicultural AIDS Coalition will
continue to be an active participant in this process.
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