A Medical Miracle Could Be Here

Dr Veljkovic and Dr Jevdovic had no financial support, no expert literature, nor normal contact with the world, they didn't attend scientists' meetings (including the 10th World Conference on AIDS) but they began research based on their own discovery and original therapy. Their achievement is prolonged life for HIV suferers.

The basic idea is injecting natural antibodies into HIV carriers through transfusions. The blood used for the transfusions comes from healthy donors who have large amounts of antibodies. That gives back natural protection to the diseased organism: the normal functioning of the immune system. In other words HIV carriers won't contract AIDS. The two scientists and doctors at the Belgrade Military Hospital also developed the ELIZA test to determine the presence of the autoreactive antibodies. ELIZA is used to screen potential blood donors.

A pilot program was used in the treatment of two patients at the AIDS department at Belgrade's Institute for Infectuous and Tropical diseases. Six months of therapy provided surprisingly good results and opened the door to more extensive clinical tests. Those tests are planned to take place later this year in Belgrade with 30-50 patients undergoing treatment.

One of the AIDS sufferers told us about the treatment.

VREME: You are the greatest proof that Dr Veljkovic's theory gave results. How were you chosen for the tests and what are they like?

The therapy began in December 1993 and I was under AZT therapy. I was very depressed at the time and didn't believe anything. My husband went to the hospital for my medication which arrived as humanitarian aid. By the way, the AZT was out of date but that just makes it less toxic and it's not a problem. My husband came home visibly excited and I asked: ``What's up, I didn't test negative did I?'' He said the doctors had suggested an experiment. ``I'm not a guinea pig,'' I said. That was just a month after I tested positive for HIV. I hadn't absorbed the shock yet. I'd wake up at night thinking I was going to die soon, I thought about that every day, I cried and went to bed knowing I was going to die. Dr Jevtovic told me that they had chosen me for the tests because I have a relatively high number of CD4 lymphocites. That count stood at 253. The doctor said he couldn't guarantee anything or give me hope. He said one more patient was undergoing the treatment. I agreed and I don't think anyone would have refused. But I didn't dare hope that it would work. I simply believed that if I allowed myslef to hope and nothing happened I would be much more disappointed than if I just reconcilied myself to the fact that I'd die soon.

The therapy began on December 29, 1993 but we didn't know whether it was having any effect for months because they lacked the materials to conduct tests. The first results came in April. The CD4 count had risen to 410. Healthy people have a count of 1000.

The most I hoped for was that the experiment, if it were succesful, would provide a chance for future generations, not me. I didn't believe I could be saved. I just tried to cheer up the other patients and get them interested in the therapy.

The problem is that most AIDS patients are drug addicts who only care about drugs. Also, money was a problem. In March, Dr Jevtovic told me not to tire myslef out with those thoughts because the people at the Vinca Institute were trying to get some money from the Health Ministry for the materials needed primarily to test blood donors. That material is very expensive and a lot is needed since 300 donors have to be screened before five are found with the right blood for six months of therapy. The therapy itself is transfusions of blood.

VREME: How do you feel now?

I have hope. Physically, I feel good and the clinical tests confirm that something is happening. My CD4 count has risen greatly. The emotional side is also very important. I'll tell you how I found out that my count had risen to 410. I called Dr Jevtovic just to talk. I asked him how my blood tests were since we had given up hope that we would ever find out any results, the test materials simply weren't there. I realized something had happened when I heard his voice. He hadn't shown any optimism up to that point but now he was excited and moved. ``It's at 410! That's fantastic, I can't believe it!'' Doctor, I can't believe it either, I said. Then we waited for the results of the next test a month later. But the next test failed. The test material was out of date. The uncertainty went on.

When I went to see the results two months later Dr Jevtovic wasn't at the clinic. His associate Dr Ranin was and I asked him what had happened. He looked at the test results and put his hands on his head. I was so frightened that the count had fallen again and that my hope had been in vain. But then he said it was better than ever, at 501, I jumped up, ran out into the waiting room and started kissing the other patients. I shouted: ``They found a cure! They found a cure! We're all saved!''

After all those fantastic results I got a new shock. All the time that I was under therapy I went to the clinic to give blood for the antibodies. I went in early June and they said they would not take any blood because their freezers weren't working and they couldn't store the blood. Then I found out that the experiment would end after I got my last dose. The fifth dose they gave me was smaller than it should have been. I got 750 ml of blood instead of a liter. The sixth was just 300 ml, there simply wasn't any blood plasma available. But it's society that isn't interested in financing something as big as this. I was shocked. I just stared at Dr Jevtovic when he told me and I vented all my anger on him. Everything collapsed for me. Dafina and Jezda (owners of the Dafiment and Jugoskandik banks which went bakrupt) stole all that money, my father's foreign currency savings are trapped and society won't do anything. This is just a few thousands DM that we need and the fate of mankind might depend on it.

VREME: AIDS is a tabbo here in our society?

Kids are dying, even officials' kids and rich peoples' kids are dying of AIDS. But everyone's hiding it. Everyone has their head buried in the sand. No one has set up a foundation to help the Infectious Disease Clinic. No one in the past three years, since Dr Veljkovic has been fighting for the project, has offered any financial support. The ministries are deaf, and the patients at the clinic are dying in front of broken windows. They don't have a decent toilet or dining room, plaster is falling off the walls and ceilings, taps are dripping, light bulbs are missing, there's no bed linen, the food is awful. It's horrifying. These are seriously ill people and death is very painful. Imagine even the bells to call the nurses don't work. You're practically condemned to die, you just lie there in isolation and wait. Everyone is there together, children, women, men, they could at least get the kids out of that misery, away from the dying junkies. There is no place like the 6th department of that clinic. Bodies sometimes get left in bed beside other patients for a whole day. But I have to say that it's not the fault of the staff. There just aren't enough of them. The ones that are there are totally dedicated. I want to thank them for their dedication and care.

VREME: You don't want to reveal your name. I assume it's because you fear condemnation?

When they suggested I should go public as the main proof that Dr Veljkoic's theory works, I refused. I'm not a Don Quijote and just couldn't take that kind of boycott from the local salesmen or neighbors or people I work with who would probably insist that I leave. I'm forbidden any kind of stress and there isn't any greater stress than a social boycott. That's the only reason why I've chosen to remain anonymous.