The federal government has said that Madagascar’s COVID-19 herbal drug, COVID Organic, would not be administered on any patient until it had gone through scientific analyses in Nigeria.
Recall that the chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Mr. Boss Mustapha, said yesterday that President Muhammadu Buhari had given permission to fly in a consignment of the drug from Guinea Bissau for treatment and cure of the coronavirus disease.
Madagascar was reported to have to have offered African countries its COVID-19 cure.
According to the report, the consignments for Nigeria were sent Guinea Bissau, from where it will be ferried the country.
Speaking at the PTF on COVID-19 briefing in Abuja yesterday, the minister of health, Dr Osagie Ehanire confirmed that Nigeria was expecting COVID Organic from Madagascar where it was reported to have been used by that country to cure COVID-19 positive patients.
He said the government would send the COVID-19 cure being for analyses and comparison with the Nigerian strain to identify similarities, differences, as well as how it works.
“With regard to the cure from Madagascar, it is making the news and we have promised of being able to get samples of the botanical products. We will be speaking with the health experts and the scientific community on how to use it. We will also give it to the research community here 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 will like to, if we get that sample, compare it with the strain here whether they are identical and see what properties it has. Things like that are subjected to analyses to see what works there and how it works.
“Obviously all countries in the world are interested in finding a cure and we are not different. So we will look at all possibilities and all options. But before we give it to our people, we will make sure that it is actually safe and it actually works,” he said.
The minister also disclosed that senior officials of the federal ministry of health held a video meeting with Chinese medical and academic experts in Beijing on Monday to seek further treatment strategies from China.
He said Nigeria was taking part in the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) solidarity international clinical trial aimed at finding an effective treatment for COVID-19.
He said Lagos, Ogun, Kaduna, Sokoto, Kano states and the Federal Capital Territory had enrolled for the solidarity test.
