NMA Reacts To Buhari’s Order On Importation Of Madagascar ‘COVID-19 Cure’

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has described President Muhammadu Buhari’s order for the importation and validation of the Madagascar Coronavirus (COVID-19) herbal remedy as a normal thing.

The NMA President, Francis Faduyile, in a phone interview with THE WHISTLER, said before trial could begin on any new drug, such must first undergo thorough checks for the properties it contains.

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The Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, had announced on Monday that President Buhari had approved the importation of the herbal remedy for analysis. 

“Mr President has given instructions for the airlifting of Nigeria’s allocation of the Madagascar COVID-19 Syrup,” adding that Buhari also gave, “clear instructions that it must be subjected to the standard validation process for pharmaceuticals. There will be no exceptions for this, ” Mustapha said during the daily briefing of the task force. 

But Faduyile noted that what the federal government was trying to do with the Madagascar herbal remedy was not yet a trial, but rather to subject the syrup to test.

“It is a normal thing to subject any acclaimed drug that you have to test. You have to check for toxicity and test the efficacy before they (the federal government) can say they want to begin trial. So they have to test.”

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Faduyile said COVID-19 was a novel disease that requires a cure, and as such anyone claiming to have a cure for it should be made to undergo the normal testing procedure.

“We are facing a novel Coronavirus and we need to have a treatment for it. So anybody who claims he has any drug that can treat it should be subjected to the normal test and I think that’s what they want to do,” he said.

Faduyi also clarified that the World Health Organization (WHO) was not against countries using Madagascar remedy, saying the WHO only warned that it was not yet a proven cure for the virus.

“There are so many research ongoing on it and Nigeria wants to do its own research,” he said.

Faduyi also reacted to the statement by the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, that traditional medicine practitioners in the country who claim to have a cure for COVID-19 should approach the National Agency for Food Drug Administration (NAFDAC) for verification of their claims.

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“A lot of people are laying claims that they have the cure for COVID-19, so the only thing you can do is that if you have a claim, then bring your drugs and let them test it,” he added.

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