A Jordanian Scholar Did Not Discover a Cure for AIDS

11th July 2021

A Jordanian Scholar Did Not Discover a Cure for AIDS

Yazan Al-Rifai professor and researcher at the University of Nebraska (FB).

The Claim

Professor Yazan Muhammad Al-Noti Al-Rifai, who works as the head of the research department at the Medical University of Omaha in the United States of America, discovers a cure for AIDS for the first time in human history.

News posted on

Emerging story

Users on social media are recently circulating news that a Jordanian professor named Muhammad Al-Nouti has discovered a cure for AIDS for the first time in human history. They also claimed he obtained a reward for finding the treatment. News publishers alleged that Professor Al-Nouti is the head of the research department at the Medical University of Omaha in the United States of America.

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Misbar’s Analysis

MENA: Misbar's investigation revealed that Yazan Al-Nouti is a professor and researcher at the College of Pharmacy at the University of Nebraska, not the head of the research department at the University of Omaha. He also did not discover a cure for AIDS but participated with a team of researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) in a study on capotegravir (CAB) injections to develop a drug treatment to prevent the transmission of HIV (AIDS) type 1.

The study was published in the scientific journal Nature Communications on June 8, 2021. The team of researchers included Dr. Yazan Al-Nouti, Dr. Benson Idagua, Dr. Howard Gendelman and their scholars.

Dr. Gendelman said in the research paper, "There are still limitations on dose sizes, administration times, and local injection site reactions. The drug is currently undergoing preclinical evaluations by our group."

HIV attacks cells that help the body fight disease, making a person more susceptible to infections and other diseases, and is spread through sex or by sharing infected equipment and syringes. As for AIDS, it is the late stage of HIV infection that occurs when the virus severely damages the body's immune system.

The human body cannot get rid of HIV, and there is no effective treatment for it to date. Therefore, once infected with HIV, the virus will remain in the body for life. However, by taking antiretroviral therapy, or ART, people with the virus can live long, healthy lives and prevent passing it on to others.

HIV was first recorded in 1981 and is the cause of one of the most deadly epidemics in humanity.