Five states in Nigeria are participating in the ongoing solidarity trial for a treatment for the COVID-19, sponsored by the World Health Organisation.
The Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, disclosed this at the briefing in Abuja on Friday.
He said this while commending survivors for sharing their experiences.
The PTF Chairman, however, strongly discouraged them from giving details of treatment because according to him, this could encourage self-medication.
“The Presidential Task Force congratulates and appreciates the testimony of Nigerians who have recovered from COVID-19, which has given us more insight and further strengthened the need to adhere strictly to guidelines issued,” he said.
“However, an emerging issue from all these testimonies is the issue of prescription for treatment. We should always remember that the symptoms of COVID-19 mimic some illnesses we already know, but treating the symptoms is not the same as treating the virus. And for this reason, we strongly discourage self-medication; we shall continue to encourage all Nigerians that see the symptoms to test, and if positive, go into the isolation centre for care by experts.
“Five states in Nigeria are participating in the ongoing W.H.O coordinated solidarity trial. At the end of this, relevant authorities will make statements on acceptable drugs for treating COVID-19,” the PTF Chairman added.
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The W.H.O solidarity project has over one hundred countries that have pledged to participate in the trial of any treatment and vaccine from the body.
Meanwhile, also at the briefing, the Minister of Foreign Affairs offered clarifications as to why Nigerian evacuees in Thailand are making payments for their airlift and quarantine.
“This is not, by any stretch of the imagination, something that the government is happy to do. As I mentioned, time and time again, if the resources were there, we will evacuate everybody. And if our medical infrastructure was solid and our caseload was much lower, we could look at other ways of accommodating, revisit our protocol,” Onyeama said.
“But the way things are at the moment, the fragility of our health infrastructure, the trajectory of the increasing numbers, of positive tests, being what they are, we have to take the greatest care with regard to the protocol we have to people coming home.”
