Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Associated Press - August 3, 2004
Ker Munthit, Associated Press Writer
His remarks seemed directed at a test, partially funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, of the drug Tenofovir DF by the California-based biotech company Gilead Sciences Inc.
"Please, don't use Cambodians for (any drug) trial," Hun Sen said at a groundbreaking ceremony for a hospital, noting that his country had been selected to test AIDS medication. "If a trial is needed, please do it on animals, and don't use Cambodians."
Hun Sen did not single out any project, but his remarks come amid a controversy on the ethics of testing Tenofovir, called Viread DF by Gilead Sciences Inc., in Cambodia.
The study, which seeks to recruit almost 1,000 sex workers, is being conducted by researchers from the University of California San Francisco with funding from the U.S. National Institutes of Health, and the University of New South Wales.
Half those volunteers in the Cambodia experiment will be given Viread, and the others will take a placebo. A year later, researchers will compare the two groups to determine if significantly fewer volunteers taking Viread were infected with HIV than those receiving the dummy pill.
Members of a local sex workers' rights group, Women Network for Unity, said in March they would refuse to participate, citing a lack of insurance against potential side effects.
Activists at last month's International AIDS conference in Bangkok also protested the test, saying the prospective participants were being exploited.
The protesters, led by the AIDS activist group Act Up, accused the researchers of purposely providing insufficient prevention education to the volunteers because it needs infection data to analyze Viread's potential to protect against the virus.
The protesters also demanded that the company take care of the lifetime medical needs of any volunteers who contract AIDS during the experiment - partially funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The study was approved by the ethics council of Cambodia's Health Ministry last year, but has not yet formally started, said Khol Vohith, a research officer at Cambodia's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Dermatology and Sexually Transmitted Diseases.
Saphonn Vonthanak, a chief of the center's research unit, said he heard about Hun Sen's remarks but was unable to comment on them or say if the Cambodian leader was referring to the Viread study. He said the center would seek clarification.
Cambodia's current HIV infection rate is 2.6 percent among people of 15-49 age group, the highest in Southeast Asia.
Women Network for Unity welcomed Hun Sen's remarks, saying he was "defending the interests of the Cambodian people."
"I'm very glad with what the prime minister has said. I wish for the study to fail, and I will get our girls together to celebrate when it actually fails," said Sou Sotheavy, one of the group's leaders.
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