The House of Representatives, on Tuesday, urged the Federal Government to go for traditional medicines to treat COVID-19 patients and ignore directives by the World Health Organization.  

Ossy Prestige, a member of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), representing Abia State raised the motion. Prestige rejected warnings by the World Health Organization on the use of local cures for the disease.

Prestige said that COVID-19 is already a pandemic and should not be handled with levity as it has affected a great number of nations especially the first world countries, adding that Nigeria has 4787 confirmed cases and 158 deaths, with the virus spreading to virtually all states of federation at an alarming rate.

The House plenary, presided over by the speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, immediately supported the motion, urging government not to hesitate to adopt the use of local remedies to treat COVID-19 patients in Nigeria.

Madagascar President, Andry Rajoelina, on Monday, criticized the West for undermining the efficacy of the COVID-19 medicine manufactured by his country. 

The President whose medical practitioners have put in efforts to manufacture medicine to cure COVID-19 lamented that the medicine is not taken seriously by the West. 

The WHO said any medicine that has not been clinically tested is not approved to cure COVID-19.

Some African countries are stepping up to assist Madagascar to get proof of the efficacy of COVID Organics. 

South Africa's government has promised to assist Madagascar to test and validate the efficacy of its Coronavirus herbal

It also mandated the Committee on Health “to interface with the relevant government agencies to ensure that our locally-deveIoped remedies for the treatment of COVID-19 are included in the clinical trials by the WHO under its “Solidarity initiative.”

Presenting his motion, Prestige said: “The World Health Organization, WHO, has not found any effective cure or vaccine for this virus ravaging the world but has launched an international clinical trial known as “Solidarity” to help find an effective cure for this disease.

“WHO has cautioned against the use of any drug or treatment that has not undergone clinical trials or administering these unproven treatments to patients with COVID-19. Some countries jettisoned this caution by WHO and have gone ahead to develop indigenous treatments to combat the ravaging effects of this virus on their citizens.”

“The Israeli Institute for Biological Research has successfully developed a series of antibodies to combat the Coronavirus. The Israeli President is considering building a vaccine production plant for the production of vaccines to treat COVID-19 patients.

The lawmakers hereby advised the Federal Government to take caution and go for the local cure and stop waiting for clinical tests from the World Health Organization before the situation goes out of hand.

Read Also: MADAGASCAR CRITICIZES THE WEST FOR UNDERESTIMATING THE EFFICACY OF ITS COVID-19 MEDICINE