By Abbas Jimoh & Ojoma Akor
President of Nigeria, Muhammadu
Buhari, has directed the airlifting of Nigeria's allocation of the Madagascar
syrup, reportedly effective for the COVID-19 treatment.
The Secretary to the Government of the
Federation (SGF) and Chairman, Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Boss
Mustapha, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja at the 29th joint national briefing
of the taskforce.
Daily Trust reports
that the Madagascan President, Andry Rajoelina, had three weeks ago officially
launched a locally produced medicine he believes can prevent and cure patients
suffering from COVID-19 ailment.
The drug was developed
by the Malagasy Institute of Applied Research and branded COVID Organics.
President Rajoelina
while presenting the drug to the media, said it contains Artemisia, a plant
cultivated in the country to fight against malaria.
"All trials and
tests have been conducted and its effectiveness in reducing the elimination of
symptoms has been proven for the treatment of patients with COVID-19 in
Madagascar," President Rajoelina had said.
Rajoelina, a former DJ,
said the formula had cured some people.
"This herbal tea
gives results in seven days," Rajoelina, 45, told journalists and
diplomats in April.
However, the SGF while
responding to a question on if Nigeria had ordered for the syrup said:
"Madagascar has made allocations to various countries.
"It has been sent
to Guinea Bissau by the president or prime minister of Madagascar and certain
allocations have been made to different countries.
"We have an
indication of the quantity that has been allocated to Nigeria and we are
supposed to make an arrangement to freight it out of Guinea Bissau to Nigeria.
"I have received
instructions from Mr. President to make arrangements to freight it home, with a
clear instruction that I should subject it to the validation process similar to
what will happen to any other medicine or syrup or vaccine that is discovered
or created internally.
"So, it will be
subjected to the same process before it is put into any form of use. There will
be no exception for that," the SGF said.
Also speaking, the
Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, said the plant used for the herbal drug
produced by the Madagascar for the prevention and cure of COVID-19 grows in
Nigeria.
The minister said the
herbal drug would be subjected to analysis by the National Institute for
Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) to determine its efficacy and
safety before it can be adopted for the treatment of COVID-19.
He stated: "We are
going to get samples of the herb of the botanical product for analyses and also
probably use that opportunity to speak with the health authorities there
particularly the scientific community on how they use it.
"We will also give
it to the research community here with us to examine and see what they can do
with it.
"We understand
that it is something called Artemisia Annua, which also grows here. But we
would like to get that sample and compare it with the strain here to know if
they are exactly identical or similar and then see what properties it has.
"It will be
subjected to analysis to find out what works in there and how it works and is
used in getting a cure. All countries around the world are interested in
finding a cure and we are not different; so, we'll look at all options and
promises that have been made.
"Before we give
any of these medicines to our people, we will make sure they are actually safe
and that they work," he said.
Ehanire also stated
that the presidential task force would continue to encourage local producers of
personal protective equipment (PPE), as it prefers local ones to their foreign
counterparts.
"Some Nigerian
manufacturers of PPEs have made presentations to us and shown us samples of
what they can make. We have sent those samples to the Nigeria Centre for
Disease Control (NCDC) to look at it to see if they are well constructed and if
the materials used are good.
"Once we have the
go-ahead, we definitely prefer local production of personal protective
equipment to foreign ones, first because they are fast and quick, and also
because they create jobs and stimulate the economy. We give preference so local
manufacturers," he said.
The minister also
disclosed that Lagos, FCT, Ogun, Kaduna, Sokoto and Kano states had enrolled on
the World Health Organisation (WHO) treatment regimen on solidarity drug
trials.
Daily Trust reports
that the WHO announced that Nigeria expressed interest to be part of the global
solidarity drug trial to tackle COVID-19 pandemic and that the process would
soon start in the country.
The Officer-in- Charge, WHO Nigeria and member of the PTF on COVID-19, Dr. Fiona Braka, told Daily Trust in an exclusive interview in Abuja that what Nigeria signed up for was drug trial and not vaccine trial, as there was yet no vaccine for the COVID-19.
Daily Trust reports
that the whole world is enveloped in uncertainty as attention shifts to how to
tame the ravaging COVID-19.
According to
Worldometer, there were 4,234,563 confirmed COVID-19 cases by 8.16pm yesterday.
The disease had killed 285,911 people while 1,519,075 have recovered.
Madagascar's herbal
remedy is produced from Artemisia, a plant with proven efficacy against malaria.
It is used with other
indigenous herbs, according to the Malagasy Institute of Applied Research,
which developed the beverage.
The Aljazeera reported
that the plant was first imported into Madagascar in the 1970s from China to
treat malaria.
"It is now
marketed in bottles as an herbal tea, while Rajoelina has said clinical trials
are under way in Madagascar to produce a form that can be injected into the
body," the news site said.
Despite the apparent
reception of the former, the World Health Organisation (WHO) advised people
against using untested remedies for COVID-19.
"Africans deserve
to use medicines tested to the same standards as people in the rest of the
world," WHO, the United Nations health agency.
"Even if therapies
are derived from traditional practice and natural, establishing their efficacy
and safety through rigorous clinical trials is critical," it said.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also warned people against using unproven remedies. - Africa
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