Samoa healers get world recognition for anti-AIDS compound

Date:  Wed, 2011-03-23

APIA, Samoa March 23, 2011 – Traditional healers of Samoa were recently acknowledged in a benefit-sharing agreement concerning the development of prostratin, an anti-AIDS compound derived from the Samoan native mamale tree.

Prostratin forces the HIV out of reservoirs in the body, thus allowing anti-retroviral drugs to attack it.

The bark of the mamala has been used by traditional healers to treat hepatitis, among other medicinal uses of the tree. This traditional knowledge guided researchers in their search for valuable therapeutic compounds.

Reportedly, revenues from the development of prostratin will be shared with the village where the compound was found and with the families of the healers who helped discover it.

Revenues will also be applied to further HIV/AIDS research. It is also proposed to license the prostratin research to drug makers so that the resultant drugs are made available to developing countries for free, at cost, or at a nominal profit.