Maduako Igbokwe Onitsha
ONITSHA, Nigeria – Anambra State Government on Monday disclosed that it has forwarded for enlistment, six herbal products for the management of COVID-19 to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC.
The Special Adviser to Governor Willie Obiano on Indigenous Medicine and Herbal practice, Dr Onyekachukwu Ibezim gave the hint while briefing journalist on development of herbal medicine in the state.
Ibezim, who did not give names of the herbal medicines, said the forwarding for the enlistment of the six herbal products was coming after diligent research which were properly scrutinized by the Anambra State Traditional Medicine Board.
He however said the state government would soon begin to arrest those people peddling herbal products in the state without approval from the ministry.
According to him ,the state government was not comfortable with people peddling herbal medicine that were not approved, saying that his office would soon begin to clamp down on such illegal products. Ibezim expressed shock over the high rate of unauthorized herbal products being peddled by some people in the State.
He stated that the Anambra State government was committed to making policies that would make Herbal Practitioners in the State to achieve their feat in line with the International best practices. According to Ibezim,his office would continue to engage in meaningful consultations that would take Indigenous Medicine and Herbal practice to the next level.
He used the opportunity to advise the citizenry to always wear their protective face masks, maintain social distancing, in addition to washing their hands regularly with soap under clean running water for at least twenty seconds, make proper use of sanitizers in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus which is currently ravaging the International Community.
