The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) gave reasons for not approving a herbal preparation for the treatment of Covid-19, stating that “no single drug has been found yet to cure COVID -19,” and warned against excessive consumption of onions and garlic for treating the disease.
This was disclosed in a statement by NAFDAC on Sunday, in Abuja, quoting Prof Moji Adeyeye, the Director-General of NAFDAC on why the agency is yet to approve a herbal procedure.
The NAFDAC boss admitted that onions and garlic contain antioxidants and nutrients that can help sick people feel better, and that some medicinal products may be helpful in easing symptoms and improving the chances of survival. She, however, warned against medical practitioners advertising unverified medicines as cures for Covid as it would be in violation of the national regulatory authorities and a breach of protocols.
“If it is not documented, it cannot be recognised by NAFDAC for COVID – 19. They work on our cells to keep people healthier, but not to cure COVID – 19. They help our body to function better. There is no cure for COVID -19 yet,” she said.
If you eat garlic and onion and you don’t use face mask you will get COVID -19. If you are in a bad environment; If you don’t wash your hands, you will get COVID -19.
Everything has to be put together. University of Jos said that there was herbal medicine, whether it is tea or whatever, that can cure COVID-19, they linked it with treatment of COVID -19, they did the packaging.
“We did a letter to warn them that they cannot claim something unless it has gone through our listing process. They were trying to sell it to their staff. That is a violation of our own regulatory policies.
“Nobody should say that this one can cure this or that without going through NAFDAC listing process, the research into herbal medicine by the academia is normal,” she added.
She stated that the role of academia is to recognise the national regulatory authority established to uphold the safety of the Nigerian populace, by ensuring that the product that they are working on has to go through NAFDAC.
“Right now, there is no single herbal medicine that has gone through full clinical trial the way clinical trial is supposed to be done,” she said.
What you should know
Nairametrics reported last week that NAFDAC approved more Covid-19 vaccines to protect Nigerians against the dreaded virus, including Moderna, a Swiss vaccine and Sputnik V, produced by Gamaleya National Centre of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Russia.
NAFDAC said that all the COVID-19 vaccines that had gone through the process of approval had been certified for quality, safety and efficacy evaluation, a prerequisite for acceptance by the COVAX facility.
The NAFDAC boss also disclosed earlier this month that Nigeria is ready to meet the World Health Organisation (WHO) benchmark requirements needed to commence the manufacturing of vaccines in Nigeria, as it has achieved nearly 90% of the requirements so far.
