USE OF AZT ON HIV PATIENTS

Parliament of Singapore · 23 May 1994 · 8th Parliament

Official Report, 23 May 1994, Vol 63, Issue 1 · Open in the reader (summaries, search, filters)

George Yong-Boon YeoKanwaljit Soin
26

Dr Kanwaljit Soin asked the Minister for Health what is his Ministry's view on the use of AZT on HIV patients in the light of a major new study published in the Lancet recently regarding the ineffectiveness of AZT for HIV patients.

BG George Yong-Boon Yeo: The Concorde Study, published in the Lancet in April this year, reported that early Zidovudine (AZT) treatment for asymptomatic HIV patients was not beneficial and did not alter their disease progression or mortality.

The Ministry of Health does not recommend AZT treatment for early asymptomatic HIV infection. Patients with HIV infection/AIDS managed at the Communicable Disease Centre (CDC) are not routinely treated with AZT. AZT is only used selectively for patients with full blown AIDS and patients who have shown a moderately severe weakening of their immune system (CD4 count < 500 cells/mm3).

The use of AZT by the Ministry of Health is consistent with the results of the Concorde Study.

Source: Singapore Parliament Official Report (Hansard) for 23 May 1994. Republished on SGParliament.