THE National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), is considering 21 herbal products for the treatment of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) symptoms.
The agency confirmed this development through its official Twitter handle on Saturday but did not name the herbal products or their manufacturers.
Mojisola Adeyeye, Director-General of the agency in the statement also said the reports circulating on social media that the agency had approved Paxherbal for treating COVID-19 symptoms as “wrong and inaccurate.”
This consideration is coming at a time Nigeria and indeed the world contend with increasing cases of confirmed COVID-19 and attendant deaths without any cure at the moment.
Nigeria, on Saturday, recorded 664 new cases of COVID-19 bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 31,987.
According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), with Saturday’s figure, the total tally of infected people in the country rose to 31,987 from 31,323 reported on Frriday evening.
Adeyeye said, “Paxherbal applied for Listing of Pax Herbal Cugzin capsule 290mg, which was approved by NAFDAC and listed as ‘safe to use.”
According to her, the applicant claimed that it is an immune booster and an anti-infective.
“However, as part of the labeling of the product, and in line with global practices, a disclaimer is on the product label, which clearly states that the claims have not been evaluated by NAFDAC.
“Therefore, the statements circulating on social media that NAFDAC has approved Paxherbal product specifically for treating symptoms associated with the coronavirus is wrong and inaccurate,” she said.
“Until a clinical study is done in a scientific manner, no herbal medicine manufacturer can claim effectiveness to treat COVID-19 associated symptoms. NAFDAC is currently processing 21 herbal medicinal products for ‘safe to use’ or listing status.”
The statement further read, “Many of the applicants claim that their products are immune boosters and anti-infectives useful for the relief of symptoms that could be associated with COVID-19. However, no clinical study has been done yet on any of the products to prove their claim of efficacy.”
Abeeb Alawiye formerly works with The ICIR as a Reporter/Social Media officer. Now work as a Senior Journalist with BBC News Yoruba. You can shoot him an email via [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @habsonfloww