205 Million Nigerians may soon experience COVID-19 free environment if the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), approves a herbal syrup submitted to it by the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago Iwoye, Ogun State.
According to the Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Ganiyu Olatunde, a group of researchers at the university has come up with a COVID–19 preventive, treatment and management herb tagged, OOU-Anjo Anti-COVID-19 herbal syrup.
Professor Olatunde, who also launched three other products – automated hands sanitiser dispenser, personal hands sanitiser and face masks, produced by the researchers on Tuesday at Ago-Iwoye, said the herbal syrup had been submitted to NAFDAC for approval.
He said: “Our university is one of the core universities that engage in research into the COVID-19 pandemic and in partnership with Anjo, one of our core effective partners in herbal medicine, we’ve been able to produce an anti-COVID-19 herbal syrup which we’ve processed to NAFDAC for approval.
“So, I can assure you that it went through all the necessary protocols that you can have in trying to produce a herbal syrup. It’s a joint effort of Anjo and the Olabisi Onabanjo Department of Medicine Research of this university.”
One of the researchers, who is the acting Director, Research, Linkages and Advancement, OOU, Dr Ashidi Joseph, explained that the remedy was formulated based on results of post-mortem research conducted on those who died of COVID-19 infection as the team had no access to samples of COVID-19 patients for laboratory test with the syrup.