At a time the coronavirus plague is imposing a severe strain on the health systems of most countries, research is intensifying across the globe into finding a cure for COVID-19. In this quest, the World Health Organisation says that eight candidate vaccines in clinical stage and 100 candidate vaccines in preclinical stage are being developed in laboratories around the world. Nigeria, where COVID-19 infections and deaths are also spiking, should join the medical research train by looking inward for solutions to the deadly virus.
Much like many other countries, the COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a massive blow to health, economy and social life here. As of May 7, there were over 3.78 million COVID-19 cases and 264,000 deaths globally. An unprecedented economic recession is looming with the International Monetary Fund predicting a sharp plunge of -3.0 per cent in the global Gross Domestic Product. This is because, for now, lockdowns are deemed the best containment strategy against the coronavirus. First noticed in Wuhan, China, in December, the virus is testing humanity to the limit.
To combat the pandemic, countries like South Korea, Germany, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom and Iceland are constantly redoubling their testing capacities. “We have about 89 products that are currently under vaccine development,” says the WHO. “The numbers keep getting updated because there is an accelerated process going on globally to try and find a vaccine.” Apart from lockdowns, it says testing is one of the surest ways of curbing the pandemic.
Africa is currently worse off in the global picture, as countries that develop drugs and vaccines take care of their own needs first. The US authorities are administering remdesivir, a drug developed for Ebola (a disease prevalent in Africa), to treat COVID-19. In truth, it takes years for new drugs to reach Africa.
Undoubtedly, Nigeria is grappling with a notoriously weak health infrastructure and poorly funded research and development. Even before the virus bared its fangs, Nigeria’s health indices were among the nastiest globally. Funding is down to the bare bones, not enough to remunerate the health workers properly or build the sorely lacking hospital infrastructure. Records showed that Nigeria allocated 3.95 per cent of its budget in 2018 and 4.5 per cent in 2020 to the health sector. Thus, the few research institutions are poorly funded, with personnel and overheads gulping a larger chunk of the allocations.
Consequently, Nigeria is battling with several diseases. In the 2020 Lassa fever outbreak, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control said there were 929 cases and 188 deaths in 27 states. Cholera, polio, HIV, meningitis, monkey-pox and leprosy are serious threats to life. Through research and ample funding, some of these ailments have been eradicated elsewhere. The WHO, for instance, said in its 2019 report that malaria had been eliminated in 38 countries and territories by 2018, with Algeria also on the verge of achieving that status.
COVID-19 has further exposed the decay in the health system. In the initial period of the pandemic, there was no testing centre in any of the 19 states in the North. Lagos, the epicentre of the virus, is struggling to provide reagents, while the Federal Capital Territory is running out of test kits. Personal protective equipment – a critical need for the frontline workers – is a luxury, primarily because Nigeria does not manufacture the items. Rather, it is heavily dependent on imports for equipment, putting itself at a serious disadvantage.
This is the time to wake up. There are lessons to be learnt from Cuba. Though not classified as a world power, it is renowned for its remarkable health system. Madagascar is making a positive headline, a rarity in Africa. It has just produced a local herbal drink based on Artemisia to treat coronavirus. The WHO has called for clinical trials of the country’s Covid Organics, a herbal drink that is said to prevent and cure patients suffering from the novel coronavirus. As of May 7, there were 158 COVID-19 cases in Madagascar out of which 101 people have recovered with no single death recorded.
These countries are not as endowed as Nigeria. Oyewale Tomori, a renowned virologist, says Nigeria lacks the capacity to produce COVID-19 vaccine. He said, “As far as Nigeria is concerned, we are doing nothing about the vaccine. We do not have the resources and facilities to do anything about vaccines.” Much of the $8bn global pledge to help develop a coronavirus vaccine and fund research into the diagnosis and treatment of the disease will hardly get to Nigeria.
It behoves Nigeria to take up the gauntlet by reviving local capacity and breaking the jinx of over-reliance on imported drugs, medical equipment and vaccines. Interestingly, the government has something to build on. The Federal Ministry of Health has rightly directed the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control to carry out necessary procedures for the assessment of some plant-based products to treat COVID-19 patients. A former vice-chancellor of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, a professor of pharmacognosy, Anthony Elujoba, has canvassed the use of herbal medicine for treatment. His colleague, Maurice Iwu, has also reportedly conducted research into developing drugs for Ebola and COVID-19. There is also a group led by Christian Happi, a professor of molecular biology and genomics. These windows should be deepened by the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), and the state governments. The WHO said these innovations, based on traditional remedies and plants, should be tested for efficacy and adverse side effects. “Africans deserve to use medicines tested to the same standards as people in the rest of the world,” it added.
The World Economic Forum declares that “there has been a huge disconnect between the rhetoric of rich-country leaders – that this is an existential, once-in-a-century global crisis – and the support for the world’s poor and developing countries than they seem willing to contemplate.” This is a serious challenge. It offers a perfect opportunity for Nigeria to resuscitate its research institutes and allocate adequate resources to research in Nigerian universities.
