Madagascar syrup: Parasitologist urges FG to harness available resources, capacity in Nigeria

Lagos, May 13, 2020 (NAN) A Parasitologist, Prof. Wellington Oyibo, has advised the Federal Government to recognise traditional medicines and formulations available that could be used in treating the coronavirus in Nigeria.

Oyibo, who is the Chairman, D. K. Olukoya Central Research Laboratory, University of Lagos, Akoka, Yaba, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Wednesday that local medicines potentials should be harnessed without delay.

He spoke on the backdrop of President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive for the airlifting of Nigeria’s allocation of the Madagascar syrup, reportedly effective for the treatment of COVID-19.

Oyibo said: “It is noteworthy that President Buhari has ordered for the Madagascar syrup for the treatment of COVID-19.

“This is welcome, considering the acceptance of an African product at this time’’.

He also urged that government should look inward to harness the nation’s natural potentials to find solutions to the pandemic, “given our peculiarities’’.

“Google responded with an App to help contact tracing.

“Now we are getting to understand the pathophysiology of the disease as well as likely targets for the development of drugs for effective treatment or prophylaxis.

“Immunity boosting has come out clearly from several accessible remedies from natural sources.

“We also understand the inflammatory diseases and the safe, well-tolerated natural remedies that we have used over the years.

“We have patients and doing a clinical trial on how these could support patient management should not be a problem, when a well-designed protocol is developed and implemented along existing standard of care.

“However, these have not been fully considered as we only want to do trials on medicines that others have done trials on,’’ Oyibo said.

The parasitologist said that it was not too late, advising that research, development and manufacturing grants should be provided for the development of home-grown natural remedies.

According to him, that is how we can protect ourselves and even grow our economy at this time.

Oyibo said that exploring these new developments would, through the supply value chain, create employment and boost the economy.

He commended Madagascar for coming up with a regime and urged the federal government to tap into its available amazing resources.

Oyibo stressed that Nigeria had knowledgeable professors of pharmacognosy, who had what it would take to quickly harness these formulations.

The parasitologist said that the pandemic was happening at several dimensions that the country could respond nicely to, in terms of product and service development and re-engineering.

“I understand that processes can be slow but we can begin to draw our risk mitigation plans from the body of experts in several disciplines and how the manufacturing sector can respond in times of emergency like this.

“The country’s infrastructure is so weak and unable to respond to, for example, repurposing of production units to provide essential needs for Nigerians.

“The risk of business owners, especially manufacturers, has been so high and they need support to help their growth and future capacity to respond in times of dire needs,’’ Oyibo said.

He advocated human capacity development for research, development and innovation.

“It is not in times of war you learn skills for war.

“You do this when there is peace and you have more responsive systems.’’

Oyibo advised government to engage at different levels to address the post-COVID-19 pandemic in several sectors, not only the economy.

He also urged the government to look at the pandemic’s effect on the health, educational, manufacturing, business and transport/logistics sectors.

He added that the government should begin critical planning. (NAN)

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