The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, on Wednesday in Abuja, said the Presidential Task Force PTF on Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic said the use of herbs to treat the deadly virus is not discouraged.
Ehanire who was responding to a question on the use of herbal remedies for the treatment/prevention of the Coronavirus, said that so far, herbs don’t cause ‘harm’, Nigerians can use it.
According to him, traditional medicine experts are encouraged to work with the Ministry of Health and Nigerian Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development, (NIPRID) on developing a possible cure for the virus.
“There are also traditional remedies that say that they boost your immune system. I receive almost every day a letter from traditional practitioners who are offering traditional medicines that they have put together and praising the quality and the efficacy of this medicine.
“Well, so long as they do not harm, we do not object but I urge the Department of Traditional/Complementary Medicine and the Ministry of Health to look into these ones and work with the Nigerian Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRID).
“They are responsible for finding and analysing medicines or looking into products of plant origin to see what is medicinal in there. NIPRID will be able to find out what works and if it works.” he said.
Meanwhile, the minister said that as of Wednesday, 29th April, 2020; 1,532 people have been confirmed to have COVID-19.
The minister said a record 825 tests were done with 195 new cases identified, a high number that is distributed as 80 in Lagos, 38 in Kano, 15 each in Bauchi and Ogun, 11 in Borno, 10 in Gombe, nine in Sokoto, five each in Edo and Jigawa, two in Zamfara and one each in Delta, Enugu, Nasarawa, Rivers and FCT.
He said, “255 persons have been successfully treated for COVID-19 and discharged, and sadly, 44 deaths have been recorded.
“The increasing figure of confirmed cases underscores the ongoing community transmission, which is a major challenge and again necessitates a call on all citizens not to take this COVID-19 lightly; but to take ownership of the initiatives for non-pharmaceutical interventions with strict adherence to public health advisories: maintain social distance, practise hand and respiratory hygiene, avoid crowded places and wear your mask or a face covering when you leave your house.”
Ehanire said these and other related measures are critical, and an integral part of the strategy to ease restrictions as from 4th of May and that failure to comply can have undesirable effects.
He said another pressing urgency is the need to provide and prepare isolation centers and more bed spaces in all states of the federation and appealed to each state authority and the FCT to give first line attention to this requirement, in order to meet expectations and obligations.
He said: “As testing ramps up, the need will become more and more obvious. It should therefore be prioritized, so that we are not taken by surprise. I should take the opportunity to request distinguished senators, Hon. members of Houses of Representatives and Assemblies to also get involved in the disease surveillance and notification efforts in their constituencies and to actively support the drive to rapidly increase bed spaces for isolation and treatment in their states.
“I shall also strongly urge those who test positive for COVID-19 to cooperate with the directives of authorities, on isolation, so as not to constitute a risk and a cause for public concern.”
He said the goverment had completed plans to start training and capacity building of much-needed intensive are workforce for various parts of the country.
The minister also disclosed that the Federal Goverment team to Kano State had commenced work and were well received by the state governor and had been able to conduct an appraisal of the situation. He added that the team had started working on outlines of providing technical support to the state COVID-19 task force in several aspects.
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