By ADAMU ABUH, Abuja

In a bid to ensure the wellbeing of the citizenry, the House of Representatives has enjoined the authorities to encourage the use of locally developed remedies for the management and treatment of Covid-19 ailments in the country.

Adopting a motion sponsored by Mr Prestige Ossy during plenary presided by Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila, the House argued that there is a need to take the measure in order to ascertain their efficacy.

The House thereby mandated its Committee on Health to interface with the relevant government agency to ensure that locally developed remedies for the treatment of Covid-19 are included in the clinical trials by the world health organisation (WHO) under its “Solidarity initiative.”

Ossy (Abia: APGA) while moving the motion maintained that Nigeria is blessed with medicinal plants which can be used for the cure and management of Covid-19 disease.

The lawmaker expressed concerned that instead of government to look inwards and encourage our scientists and alternative Herbal Practitioners like other countries are doing, the authorities are rather waiting for the WHO for a cure and exploring the possibility of subjecting the citizenry to be used as experimental guinea pigs for vaccines which are still in their developmental stages.

He said he was aware of the initiative by Professor Humphrey Nwosu the Chief Executive Officer of Bioresources Institute of Nigeria and his team of researchers who claimed to have found a cure for coronavirus.

The lawmaker argued in spite of the fact that Nwosu conveyed the information to the Ministers of Health and Science and Technology, no action has been taken by government to verify the authenticity of the claim till date.

He said he was aware that the Traditional Complementary and Alternative Medicine Department of the Ministry of Health has written to the Director-General of the NAFDAC on its research and possible cure for the management of Covid-19 ailments.

He further stated that the Anambra Traditional Medicine Board headed by Reverend Father Raymond Arazu a Catholic Reverend Father and foremost Traditional Medical Practitioner has announced that the Board has developed a cure for Covid-19 Novel Virus.

Continuing, he stated “That a Nigerian Pharmaceutical Company headed by Dr Paul Olisah Ojeih have come out with claims that the Covid-19 pandemic has become a money-making venture for certain privileged Nigerians and that his Company, Iris Medical Foundation Drugs and Pharmaceutical, have developed a drug that can cure Covid-19 in 72 hours.

” I was further informed that the medical practitioner has challenged the Government to give him 10 infected patients and allow him to place them on his drug known as Venedi Elixir which has been used in the past 18 years in the treatment of viral infections that are drug-resistant. Afdirmmg that he is willing to Infect himself first with the virus and cure himself under 72 hours using the drug.

“There is need to encourage and support some of the claims by our Local Scientists and alternative Medical Practitioners as some of their claims sounds convincing enough to hazard a trial of the drugs developed by them, after all, it is still the same trial of treatments that WHO is currently engaged in and they have come out to support the breakthrough from Madagascar so why not try Nigerian remedies as well?” (The Guardian)

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