Zimbabwe’s Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa says Walter Magaya  who claims to have discovered a cure named Aguma  for HIV/AIDS has not yet submitted it for review and assessment as a herbal supplement warning  Zimbabweans not to buy medicines from unapproved and unlicensed persons,

Addressing journalists at a Press conference to update media on a meeting held by President Mnangagwa earlier with members of the private sector and to respond to claims by Prophet Magaya on Sunday that he had  discovered an Aids cure, Minister Mutsvangwa said  the Government was concerned with these claims as there are processes and procedures in Zimbabwe that medicines go through, before they are recognised as effective and safe for use by patients.

She said relevant authorities were, on the other hand, urgently looking into the matter after which the nation would be advised on the said claims, stressing that Zimbabwe relies on science and evidence regarding modern day medicines .She added that the Ministry of Health will continue encouraging and supporting innovations and discoveries of new products, which are done within the provided regulatory framework.

Prophet Magaya’s claim also drew criticism from different stakeholders in the health sector arguing that people living with HIV might stop taking their antiretroviral treatments for the Aguma herb.

A visiting academic from the University of Cambridge’s offshoot – Diagnostics for the Real World – Professor Helen Lee said it was impossible for one to become HIV negative in two weeks. The National Aids Council weighed in saying there was currently no known cure for HIV and Aids.