Geckos won't cure AIDS, Philippines officials warn
(CBS/AP) Are geckos grimy, gross creatures to avoid?
No, say plenty of folks in Asia, who use geckos as medicine based on folklore that the reptiles can treat diseases such as AIDS and impotence. But the Philippines warned Friday that this custom may put patients at risk.
In folkloric practice, geckos are dried and pulverized to use as traditional medicine for asthma, AIDS, cancer, tuberculosis and impotence - and also as aphrodisiacs. Philippine wildlife official Mundita Lim says there are also anecdotal accounts of the saliva or internal organs being collected.
PICTURES - Geckos: False AIDS treatment in Asia
But using geckos as medical treatment has no scientific basis and could be dangerous because patients might not seek proper treatment for their diseases, a health department statement said. "This is likely to aggravate their overall health and put them at greater risk," it added. Treatments for asthma are easily available and affordable, and there are antiviral drugs to control the progress of HIV.
Still, people are using the wall-climbing lizards as medicine all over Malaysia, China and South Korea, where geckos are exported from the Philippines.
Environmental officials are also alarmed by the growing trade of geckos in the Philippines. An 11-ounce (300-gram) gecko reportedly sells for at least 50,000 pesos ($1,160). Lim said her office has asked law enforcers to look into the possibility that scammers may have infiltrated the trade because of the exorbitant prices being quoted online by buyers demanding geckos weighing at least 400 grams (14 ounces). She said geckos in the wild grow up to 200 grams (7 ounces), and those fattened in captivity can grow only up to 300 grams (10 ounces).
Environment Secretary Ramon Paje earlier warned that collecting and trading geckos without permit can be punishable by up to four years in jail and a fine of up to 300,000 pesos ($6,900).
Geckos feed on insects and worms, and larger species hunt small birds and rodents. A healthy population of geckos is needed to regulate pests and maintain the fragile ecosystem, said Paje.
