asked the Minister for Health if, in view of the claims made for the efficacy of an African drug called umckaloabo in the treatment of tuberculosis, he will state whether this drug has been examined and found efficacious; and, if so, whether he will consider making it available free of cost to the victims of the disease in this country.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Treatment of Tuberculosis.
The properties of umckaloabo were considered by research workers engaged on the chemotherapy of tuberculosis under a grant now payable to the Medical Research Council out of the Hospitals Trust Fund.
The drug was considered to be of no value in the treatment of tuberculosis. Accordingly, the Deputy will agree that there is no point in making the drug available.
Is the Minister aware that in the book Burma Surgeon Returns, written by a member of his own profession, Gordon S. Seagraves, M.D., extraordinary testimony is given to the efficacy of this drug when used for the treatment of tuberculosis amongst German prisoners of war in Burma during the last war?
I am aware that various claims have been made for the powers of this drug in the treatment of tuberculosis over a number of years, both by qualified and unqualified practitioners; but I am quite certain in my own mind, as a result of investigations carried out by qualified scientists, that this drug is quite useless as a specific drug in the treatment of tuberculosis.