A herbal drug with potential for managing HIV and AIDS has been tested and confirmed to be effective against the HIV virus. The COA drug which reduced virus growth between 70 and 80 per cent in a laboratory test is, however, yet to be tested on humans. The drug, which was tested by the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research in Accra, also has the ability to cure other blood related diseases such as Hepatitis and Leukaemia. Although there is the need for further test to prove its efficacy in humans, the drug, which has also been tested by the Centre for Scientific Research into Plant Medicine, Akuapem Mampong, is said to be a potential source for the cure of HIV and AIDS. Developed by the Centre of Awareness, a religious-based non-governmental organisation, which is into herbal medicine in Cape Coast, the drug is said to be unique because it is said to kill the virus whereas other anti-ritroviral drugs only suppresses the virus. The Executive President of the Centre of Awareness, Mr Ato Duncan, who made the findings known to the media in Accra, said the centre needed support to perform further tests on the drug. He called on financial institutions and other funding agencies to support the centre to find a lasting cure to the HIV and AIDS disease. Mr Duncan also called for collaboration between the centre and scientific research institutions to help in the further development of the drug for the benefit of mankind. The Omanhene of the Oguaa Traditional Area, Osabarima Kwasi Atta II, said the discovery of a drug for the cure of HIV and AIDS would be a plus for the country and, therefore, called for the needed support. According to him, HIV and AIDS have already caused a lot of havoc, and there was the need to halt its devastating effect on people across the world. A Senior Lecturer at the College of Health Sciences, Korle Bu, Rev. Dr Nicholas Trebi, who delivered a report on the efficacy of the COA, said when further developed, the drug would have an effect on the human DNA thereby eliminating the virus from human blood. The Director of the Centre for Scientific Research into Plant Medicine, Professor Dominic Edoh, said the drug was also a potential source of diabetes cure.