Uganda Medical Association President Dr Richard Idro says Kadaga is misleading giving Ugandans false hope, No Coronavirus cure yet
The Uganda Medical Association (UMA) has expressed disappointment over Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga remarks before the plenary during the Monday 16, March special sitting saying there’s a Coronavirus cure manufactured in Uganda coming soon on the market.
Dr Richard Idro, UMA President said the move is misleading giving Ugandans false hope. He says the SARS-COV-2)9 which causes COVID-19 was discovered three months ago and until today no single medicine has yet been invented.
Kadaga informed legislators that a scientist Prof. Sarfaraz K. Niazi had invented a drug meant to cure Coronavirus and together with Mathias Magoola from a local manufacturing company they will produce the drug here in Uganda.
“And within a fortnight the treatment will be available in the market here in Uganda. It’s being made by a company called May International, a young man from Busoga,” Kadga said.
Dr Idro says Kadaga’s scientist is a quark with intentions of diverting the public from the effective prevention measures in place.
“We express particular displeasure about the quack cadre scientists who desire to misinform the leadership of our country. From what we understand, whatever was purported as a treatment, cure or vaccine is a disinfectant meant for external body use. It’s unlikely that the same has any approval,” Idro said.
Dr Idro reveals that declaring that there’s a company based in Luzira with statement manufacturing a cure drug without any competent collaboration or scientific evidence is misleading information to the public.
“Any evidence or claim of treatment or cure without any scientific evidence and collaboration by competent institution mandated to regulate medicine is not only incorrect but it’s false hope and may also be dangerous to society,” Idro said.
The medical associations urge that for any drug to be approved, it has to undergo trials starting with animal study, tests carried out in animals.
According to Idro, it’s very unlikely that the same disinfectant has been approved by the United States of America where the said Professor originates.
“There’s a minimum of four stages for this research, it’s only medicines that pass all these four stages that are released for human use. These stages last not less than one and a half years and sometimes, it lasts for more than five years,” Idro said. “Why would the US give the patent of a potential cure to the country with no single case when it has several thousand cases” Idro wondered
“First the medicine is tested in animals, usually mice or rats in what we call animal studies. If it emerges safe and can do what is meant to do, then the first human study or phase 1 clinical trial is conducted in a handful of adult young men under extremely controlled conditions,” Idro said.
Idro adds that the National Drug Authority (NDA) is the only authorized entity for any drug use or entry in the country.
“To our knowledge not any such testing, scrutiny or oversight of the medicine the speaker talked about has been undertaken by the National Drug Authority,” Idro said.
