NAFDAC Shares Optimistic News On Early Treatment Of The Deadly Coronavirus
The Director-General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, says research has shown that chloroquine is effective for the treatment of COVID-19 at the early stage of infection.
She disclosed this during a virtual news conference, noting that science has confirmed that the drug can be used in the early stage of the COVID-19 infection as prophylactic (preventive) treatment. According to the pharmacist:
“On March 20, 2020 during a press briefing, I said I was going through a literature and I found (out) that chloroquine and remdesivir killed COVID-19 in vitro – that is in the laboratory.
“We did not know that the disease has four stages that include pre-exposure, early stage, severe stage and post-infection. At what stage that chloroquine will be more effective, we did not know at that time.
“We are now understanding that it is not one drug that can be effective for COVID-19. It depends on the phase of the disease. We started working with Lagos State on clinical trial for chloroquine. We are getting to know that that it is working.
“My colleague in Ghana has a robust study on chloroquine use on COVID-19 patients that is going to be released soon. Also, several people that had COVID-19 in Senegal recovered after using the drug.”
READ ALSO: COVID-19: NAFDAC Boss, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye Orders Production Of Chloroquine For Clinical Trial
Adeyeye further noted:
“The Director General of Senegal’s drug regulatory body that is also Director General of the regional regulatory body ordered chloroquine from a company in Ota, Ogun State, and distributed to 15 member-countries. I know Ghana is using it. If something is effective prophylactically, it means that the disease will not progress.”
On the reported upsurge in adulterated drugs and medical products, the NAFDAC DG submitted:
“We had problems of fake drugs and Tramadol between 2011 and May 2018 because of porous borders. There has not been a robust study, but we know they are there. Seventy per cent of our products are from South East Asia.”
On the way out, she stated:
“Falsified medicines bring burden to our laboratories. We need a detection device for exact information.”
However, the World Health Organisation (WHO), said Nigeria and 171 other nations were in discussions to participate in COVAX, a global initiative for affordable acquisition of licensed and secure vaccines by nations globally.
COVAX currently has the world’s largest and most diverse COVID-19 therapy portfolio – including nine candidate vaccines – with nine others being evaluated.
WHO’s Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, submitted:
“COVID-19 is an unprecedented global health challenge that can only be met with unprecedented cooperation between governments, researchers, manufacturers and multilateral partners.
“By pooling resources and acting in solidarity through the ACT Accelerator and the COVAX facility, we can ensure that once a vaccine is available for COVID-19, it is available equitably to all countries.”