We’re unaware of herbal medicine approved by FDA for clinical trial – Herbal Practitioners

The General Secretary of the Ghana Federation for Traditional Medicine Practitioners, Nana Kwadwo Obiri, has said his association is unaware of the herbal medicine that has been approved by the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) for clinical trial on the coronavirus treatment in Ghana.

The FDA on Monday, February 1, announced that it has approved the first herbal medicine for clinical trial on the coronavirus treatment in the country.

This was contained in a statement released by the authority.

The statement said the “School of Public Health at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, (KNUST), submitted a clinical trial application in September 2020.”

“The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), The National Medicine Regulatory Agency (NMRA) in Ghana, has approved a herbal medicine, Cryptolepis sanguinolenta, locally known as Nibima for clinical trials in January 2021.”

It added “In the search for a treatment for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, researchers from the School of Public Health at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, (KNUST), submitted a clinical trial application in September 2020 to assess the safety and efficacy of Cryptolepis sanguinolenta as a potential treatment for COVID-19. This follows results from laboratory studies conducted by the KNUST research team which points in the direction of possible clinical benefits.”

Reacting to this development on the Sunrise Morning Show on 3FM Monday, Nana Kwadwo Obiri explained that his members have already sent 33 different types of herbal medicines to the Ministry of Health and the FDA for assessment and further approval for covid-19 treatment.

The Ministry and the FDA, he said, have not yet replied them on whether or not any of their samples has been endorsed only for this announcement to be made that Nibima has been approved for clinical trials.

“I am a board member and represent traditional medicine practitioners on the FDA Governing Board and am also a member of the Drugs Committee of the Food and Drugs Authority and am saying that these things I don’t know anything about it. That is why am saying that the Research Committee is meeting we will talk to the certification, we will talk to the ministry and then we will come out.”

He added that, “When you come to herbal industry a lot of things happen and the authority know that, that is why they put us on board and other committees, so when they were reluctant in adding us to the new herbal medicine research board that was constituted by the Minister of Health, Minister ordered that they should add the two of us on; myself and the president of the federation are members so if anything we should look at it at one of these committees before so I am at a shock”.