Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19, Boss Mustapha on Monday said President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the Task Force to pick up Covid-Organics –Madagascar’s self-proclaimed, plant-based ‘remedy’ for the virus.
Mustapha said the plan is to get the product and subject it to analysis to see how it works, how it is used.
“Concerning the question on the cure from Madagascar, this has been making the news and we have the promise of being able to get a sample of the herb/botanical product for analysis and also probably use that opportunity to speak with the health authorities particularly the scientific community on how they use it.
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“We will also give that to the research community with us here (in Nigeria) to examine and do what they can do with it.
“We will like to compare the sample with the strain here in our country whether they are identical or similar and see what properties it has. Things like that are normally subjected to analysis to find out how it works,” Mustapha said.
He, however, said that the President had instructed him to ensure that Nigeria’s consignment of the syrup was ferried home and must be passed through the normal validation protocols that all other such potential cures or vaccines had to go through.
“It’s 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’ve 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’ll be no exception for that”, he said.
Meanwhile, five states in Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are to participate in the solidarity drug trials,’ an international clinical trial, being spearheaded by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to help find a cure for the COVID-19, the Federal Government has said.
Disclosing this at Monday’s briefing of PTF on COVID-19, Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire listed the states to include Lagos, Ogun, Kano, Kaduna and Sokoto.
The minister said; “Federal Government is cooperating with the WHO on treatment regimen Solidarity trial with the following states enrolled; Lagos, FCT, Ogun, Kaduna, Sokoto and Kano.”
