WHO Africa to review COVID-19 herbal remedies for Phase 3 clinical trials

Amid the pandemic, the African Regional Expert Committee on Traditional Medicine for COVID-19 is set to pick the most promising herbal medicine products against COVID-19 which further could get a green light for Phase 3 trials under the new WHO protocol. As per reports, the African committee will be responsible for gathering the medicinal herbs and as many as 10 herbal medicines may be shortlisted for phase 3 trials.

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Products local to Africa and even from outside can take part

According to reports, Dr. Jean-Baptiste Nikiema of the WHO Africa said, “We are targeting all traditional medicine that can be proposed against COVID-19. There are many, many products countries are proposing; sometimes some of them are not very relevant. That's why the WHO is supporting countries with some criteria to select what can be relevant to go for phase III clinical trials”. Nikiema also added that dozens of herbal medicines may be tested before they are allowed into Phase 3 of clinical trials.

The WHO, the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, as well the African Union Commission for Social Affairs formed an expert committee in the month of September which endorsed a Phase 3 trial of herbal medicines for the COVID-19.

Dr Nikiema also said, “The expert committee will reconvene in the coming weeks with information from countries to analyze and make a decision on what can make it to the clinical trial and what has to be dropped out ... Africa is a very big continent with many big countries like Nigeria, South Africa and so on. I can't tell you the exact number of medicines that can come in, but definitely more than ten”.

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As per reports, products local to Africa and even those sourced from outside Africa will be able to participate and compete for a chance in the Phase 3 trials. All the participants must follow the rules, complete the protocol, submit the report to the national ethics committee and national regulator authority to get the necessary clearance. 

As per reports, Madagascar was the first country to put forward a herbal tonic that reportedly damped the symptoms of COVID-19 in patients. The World Health Organisation then stated that it should go through all the necessary testing before being widely used on the population.

(With ANI inputs)

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