By Uche Mbah
Unconfirmed reports say that the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration Control, NAFDAC, has given a tacit approval to the use of a Nigerian Herbal medicine for the management of COVID-19.
The magazine’s calls to the Agency, for confirmation, were neither answered nor returned. But the founder of PAX HERBAL clinic, Ewu, Anselem Adodo, in an internal memo, celebrated the feat, and tacit approval. He noted that the drug has successfully gone through pre-approval hurdles.
There has been no official statement from NAFDAC.
There have been issues on whether there will be an indigenous cure for coronavirus since many Nigerians, including the former chairman of the electoral umpire, Maurice Iwu, are laying claims to the cure.
Nigeria had taken delivery of the COVID 19 cure kits from Madagascar, but to date, nothing has been heard of the drug again. NAFDAC has said they will evaluate the drug before approval. The importation of the drug had created a diplomatic rumpus with Madagascar asking to be paid huge amounts for the drugs which Nigeria allegedly objected to.
In a widely circulated internal memo of PAX HERBAL clinic, the founder and director of the clinic that is located at Ewu, Benin, Anselm Adodo, announced the approval of the drug,
“After a series of screening, spanning eight weeks, NAFDAC has today approved our PAXHERBAL COVID 19 herbal drug, PAXHERBAL CUGZIN, for public use. It is the first to be so approved and currently the only one. The drug is specifically for treatment of symptoms associated with COVID 19”, the memo read.
NAFDAC had given a tacit approval fo the use of the drug even though it was not officially approved. Since then, it has been surreptitiously used by medical personnel. As a disclaimer, the drug bore a label under the category of drugs CBD PLUS. It bore the disclaimer: “These claims have not yet been verified by NAFDAC”.
Paxherbal Cugzin now has the NAFDAC number A7-4358L
CUGZIN is packaged in a bottle of 80 290 mg capsules, each containing special extracts. They have already begun nationwide distribution.
The drug has passed through all the stages of clinical trial-animal testing and others- before approval. According to Adodo, the drug is both curative and preventive and also serves as an immune booster. However, it should not be used by pregnant women and children under 11 years. For private use for preventive reasons and immune booster, two capsules a day is recommended. However, for curative purposes, the direction of a physician is required.
Anselm Adodo, a Catholic Monk and a Ph.D. holder in Management and Technological Innovations, and later medical Sociology, said: “We have herbal medicines for many of the diseases that plague our people. For more than 2 years we have been producing herbal medicine for diabetes, hypertension, Ashma, Malaria, prostate problem, male and female infertility, and others. For those 25 years, we have strived to maintain the same high standards and consistency. The only thing we are poor at is making noise about what we do. Those who use drugs make the noise for us”.
