COVID-19: PSN tasks FG on homegrown remedy
The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) has urged Federal Government not to rely on importation but intensify research into the development of home-grown cure for COVID-19 in the country.
Dr Abiodun Ayeku, Chairman, PSN Ondo State Chapter, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Akure on Monday.
He restated the PSN’s opposition to the importation of Madagascar’s organic herb for treatment of COVID-19 in Nigeria.
Ayeku noted that Madagascar would first take care of her own nationals having discovered its remedy for the virus before reaching out to other nations.
The PSN chairman said that India and China have become the hub of medicine through investment into scientific research.
He urged federal government to do the needful by investing in research and development, noting that herbal medicine is an integral part of pharmacy.
“Almost all drugs have its origin from animal and plants extracted before the molecules are being synthesized long before the process of large production come into play.
“Nigerian government must take a cue and begin a thorough process of investment that can stand in the face of any other eventualities that might breakout like the COVID-19.
“We have sensitized our members to continue to take necessary precautions and treat all cases as a suspected case of COVID-19 and there has been a paradigm shift in work place etiquettes since the pandemic broke out,” he said.
Ayeku commended health workers, especially those in the frontline against the pandemic, urging them to join efforts in fighting the virus to a standstill.
Ayeku said that PSN has partnered with relevant agencies to form a joint patrol to rid the state of fake drugs through use of scan machine to detect fake drugs instantly.
“So far with our team on ground, Ondo State is not a hub of fake drugs.
“We have a joint task force which include NDLEA and NAFDAC to confirm the registration number and determine if a drug is fake or original.
“Our joint task force has been able to discover and recover fake drugs running into millions of naira across the 18 council areas of the state, which have been destroyed accordingly,”Ayeku added.(NAN)
