Lagos, Abuja, Ado Ekiti, Akure, Yola — Madagascar's touted herbal cure for COVID-19 is on its way to Nigeria for clinical analysis of its efficacy by the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Mr. Boss Mustapha, has said.
He spoke yesterday at the task force's daily press briefing in Abuja and said President Muhammadu Buhari had directed PTF to procure the African herbal mixture, explaining, however, that it, like others in the country, would be subjected to the drug regulatory authorities' validation before it could be used for the treatment of the patients. He said the president had also directed PTF to go to Guinea Bissau to pick up the mixture better known as COVID-Organics.
But, COVID-19's victims in the country rose to 4,641 yesterday as 242 more persons were infected. However, 124 persons were discharged, bringing the total number of those yanked off its hook to 902. Unfortunately, 10 more persons succumbed to its fatality, raising the figure of the dead to 150 across 34 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
According to the figures by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), 242 new cases came from 14 states, including Lagos 88, Kano 64, Katsina 49, Kaduna 13, Ogun nine, Gombe six, Adamawa four, FCT three, Ondo one, Oyo one, Rivers one, Zamfara one, Borno one, and Bauchi one. The federal government, however, disclosed that the plant used for the herbal drug produced by the Republic of Madagascar also grows in Nigeria.
The president was perhaps encouraged to give the directive by the claim by Madagascar that at least 55 COVID-19 patients in the country had recovered after treatment with the herbal remedy for the disease. The federal government has also encouraged each state of the federation to set up isolation centres with a minimum of 300 beds each, saying Lagos, Ogun, Kaduna, Sokoto and Kano states as well as the FCT had signed up to participate in the World Health Organisation (WHO)'s solidarity trial to help find an effective treatment for the disease.
Meanwhile, the 320-bed capacity isolation centre set up by THISDAY Newspapers and partners at the THISDAY Dome in Abuja would be inaugurated today. Mustapha disclosed that some quantity of COVID-Organics, meant for Nigeria, had already been dispatched from the Pacific Ocean Island country to Guinea Bissau.
According to him, Madagascar donated some of the products to Nigeria through Guinea-Bissau, adding that arrangements were being made to pick them up. He, however, said Buhari had directed that the syrup should be properly investigated without any prejudice to ascertain its safety for human consumption.
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