ADDIS ABABA – Amid COVID-19 prevention efforts, the country is using this challenging time to encourage people working on traditional medicines though experts argue that most of the practitioners lack modern clinical experiences.
The number of confirmed pandemic case is alarmingly growing in Ethiopia despite government’s arduous effort to combat the pandemic and its imposition of a range of measures to halt pandemic spread.
Recently, Ministry of Science and Higher Education in collaboration of Science Academy held a discussion with health professionals, governmental officials and civil society leaders concerning clinical trials on the management of Covd-19.
So far, more than 20 traditional medicines have entered clinical trials with coordination of the government and some of them are reported to pass through hopeful results requiring further steps, it was learnt.
On the other hand, Ethiopia has no adequate and efficient clinical trial centers in which the experts argued that this may cause delay in researches.
Prof. Afework Kassu, Science and Higher Education Minister, said that the scale of traditional medicine studies is growing from time to time despite the fact that the absence of developed clinical trial centers is challenging the efforts geared towards change.
“We appreciated that some of Traditional Drugs [to cure COVD-19] pass thousands of trails in accordance with international protocols,” he said.
Experts and officials are also recommending that clinical trials to develop new drugs may take long since the international protocol requires a series of trials and as the last step of the trail is on human beings.
Dr. Munir Kassa is COVID-19 Task Force Plan and Policy Team Leader at
the Ministry of Health. As to him, two research wings of the Ministry, Armauer Hansen Research Institute and Public Health Research Institute are conducting numbers of researches regarding Coronavirus.
However, he added that experience of clinical trials is still undeveloped; thus the government is working hard to redress the problem.
Chairman of National Ethics Review Committee, Prof. Tilahun Teka on his part said that clinical trial in related to COVID-19 has registered hopeful results.
Speaking on the delaying of final trails, “Since medicines are for human beings, no one should be tasting body before the medical research team give and test enter final stage [human clinical trial], he noted.
“We are working in line with 2014 protocol of research ethics guideline. And this year, the protocol is under revision and will be put into practice very soon,” he said. As to him, the newly revised guideline will contain crucial one during pandemic outbreak like COVID-19, which was ruled out in previous guidelines.
Prof. Eyasu Mekonen, Deputy Head of Center for Innovative Drug Developments and Therapeutic Trails for Africa CDT Africa on his part said that researchers have participated actively so far while challenged by some constraints; which in turn needs swift response of the government.
Speaking about the constraints, Prof. Tasew Woldehana, Addis Ababa University President, said absence of well-developed trial centers is even becoming a major challenge for traditional medicine practitioners resulting delay in trials.
“However, clinical trials which previously passed through, have shown progress amidst challenges,” he stressed.
Addis Ababa University is also conducting researches on medical issues in related to the pandemic, he said adding, “We are conducting researches on the means of how developing countries like Ethiopia could make vaccines since some of international companies have already begun producing vaccine.
Asnakech Alemu, Director of Product Safety at Ethiopian Food and Drug Authority, on her part confirmed that following the outbreak of the pandemic, the Authority is serving researchers free of charge unlike previous times.
“Fast track procedures of applications to conduct Covd-19 clinical trials with free of charge are employed by the authority, “she said, “supplementary guidelines for clinical and traditional medicine trials have been published.”
The Ethiopian Herald JUNE 19, 2020
BY YESUF ENDRIS
