Covid-19: Ghana approves first herbal drug for clinical trial
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Ghana’s Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has announced that it has given approval for the country’s first herbal medicine Cryptolepis Sanguinolenta locally known as Nibima for clinical trials for the treatment of Covid-19.
The herbal medicine went through several laboratory studies at one of the country’s major university research centre called the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).
The research team at the institution said the drug showed signs of efficacy against the coronavirus.
With the backing of Ghana’s National Medicine Regulatory Agency (NMRA) the FDA said in a statement that “In the search for the treatment for the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic” the researchers “submitted a clinical trial application in September 2020 to assess the safety and efficacy of the said herbal drug” as a potential treatment for Covid-19.
Ghana is yet to obtain Covid-19 vaccines for its population and the latest news is to boost chances of the country securing a potential treatment for the virus.
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Populations in many African countries rely on herbal drugs for health treatments, scaling up the industry.
Madagascar was the first African country to boldly declare that it had found a herbal remedy for the pandemic but clinical trials were not carried out.
The World Health Organization then warned against using it due to safety concerns.
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Source: Africafeeds.com
