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Federal Government of Nigeria has said it is started using remdesivir – a broad-spectrum antiviral medication developed by the biopharmaceutical company, Gilead Sciences – to treat coronavirus patients in the country.
Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire made this known at the briefing of the House of Representative members by Presidential Task Force PTF Team on COVID-19 on Tuesday.
Ehanire said the drug has been administered to patients in Lagos State but gave no details on the outcome of the drug on the patients.
He stated: “We have been using that (remdesivir); we have tried that in Lagos too.
“So, we have tried the antiretroviral drug to see what effect it has.”
The health minister also stated that the government has not ruled out the possibility of using local herbs to fight the pandemic in the country but insisted that the Nigerian Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development must first certify their efficacy.
He explained that local herbs can be categorised into drugs that can cure the virus or those that can reduce the symptoms but the body must be able to build the required antibodies to neutralise the virus.
“Before now, it was said that Chloroquine can destroy the virus. But test are still going on in that regard. We have to test the efficacy of local drugs to see if it can kill the virus and also to find out that is in the process of killing the virus, it can affect the body. So, the Institute will carry out the required test on the local drugs find out how it can work,” Ehanire stated.
