The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has replied to claims of the herbal COVID-19 remedies, says it has only received one application for the treatment of COVID-19 symptoms and not the cure of the infection.
NAFDAC disclosed that all claims of local remedies for COVID-19 are domiciled in either the conventional news media or social media.
In a statement by the Director-General of the agency, Mojisola Adeyeye said drugs are products of research and development from plants, while she added that many plants are also very poisonous.
“A claim of a cure must be subjected to clinical evaluation through well-controlled, randomized clinical trials following an approved clinical trial protocol”.
“As the agency that has been saddled with the mandate of safeguarding the health of the citizenry, NAFDAC will continue to make sure that only medicinal product (including herbal remedies) that have proven safety data will be approved for use by the public.
“Presently the Agency lists herbal medicines based on a historical perspective on the use of the products after carrying out toxicological and microbiological evaluations in the laboratories to ensure that they are, at the minimum, safe. The listing status is valid for two years and is renewable.
“It does not validate the efficacy claims being made for the products hence, the labels must bear a disclaimer informing the consumer.
“The claims have not been evaluated by NAFDAC, this minimum requirement of ‘proof of safety’ is the Agency’s way of encouraging the production of herbal remedies from the country’s rich diversity of plants.
“Part of the efforts to advance herbal product development informed the setting up of the Nigerian Herbal Medicine Product Committee (HMPC) by the Director-General, NAFDAC”.
“This collaboration, brokered by the Agency, aims at translating the research of herbs into products of commerce with proven safety & efficacy”.