As Covid numbers rise, Uganda threatens to impound herbal remedies

Uganda's National Drug Authority (NDA) has prevented the distribution and sale of a herbal remedy for Covid-19 developed by Ugandan scientists.

Researchers from the state university of Gulu in northern Ugandadeveloped the remedy, named Covilyce-1, and were in the process of distributing it when the NDA stepped in, saying the drug had not been approved and could potentially endanger lives.

"The NDA will not allow anyone to risk the lives of Ugandans by bringing [onto the] market unauthorized products," the organization's spokesperson Abiaz Rwamwiri told dpa on Thursday.

The health-care system in Uganda is currently struggling with a fierce third wave of coronavirus infections, much of which is driven by the highly transmissible Delta variant. Covid-19 deaths have more than quadrupled in the past month.

According to the Health Ministry, Uganda has seen more than 88,600 cases of Covid-19 infection and 2203 deaths. As in other African countries, vaccines are in short supply and the healthcare system is overburdened, leading to the popularity of alternative cures.

Government officials insist the current lockdown is reducing infection rates as well as reducing pressure on health facilities.

"We are seeing a lot of positive results from the lockdown. We are yet to quantify these ... but there is a reduction of the pressure on hospitals and the infection and death rates are going down," President Museveni's special advisor on epidemics, Dr Monica Musenerotold dpa on Thursday.