- Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari (photo/courtesy)
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has rejected all herbal medicines that have not been tested and approved by Nigerian regulatory institutions. The president said all herbal or traditional medicines that have not been scientifically tested and verified will not be used by Nigerian citizens.
“My position regarding all herbal or traditional medicines is that any such formulations should be sent to the statutory regulators for thorough scientific verification. We will not put anything to use in Nigeria without the endorsement of our regulatory institutions,” President Muhammadu Buhari said.
The World Health Organization(WHO) had warned people against using herbal remedies or Cures that have not been scientifically tested and approved.
Nigeria has managed to test 32,942 samples since the first case of the COVID-19 in Nigeria. The confirmed cases are 5,621 while active cases are 3,973. 176 people have died and 1,472 have been discharged from hospital.
In April, Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina announced the discovery of a new herbal COVID-19 ‘cure’ . He claimed the drug had reduced and eliminated COVID-19 symptoms in patients suffering from Corona virus in Madagascar.
Since the introduction of the herbal remedy, more than 5 African countries have ordered and received the herbal remedy from Madagascar. Those countries include Tanzania, DRC Congo, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Equatorial Guinea and Congo.
Despite the directive issued by WHO discouraging people from using any ‘COVID-19 cure’, it has decided to test the suggested herbal remedies in Africa.
On Tuesday WHO held a virtual meeting with 70 traditional medicine experts from African countries. The medicine experts “unanimously agreed that clinical trials must be conducted for all medicines in the region, without exception”.
