KAMPALA – As of today, there are 39,188 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 433 active cases and 318 deaths in Uganda. However, there has not been any confirmed COVID-19 treatment.
His Excellence President Yoweri Museveni Tibuhaburwa Kaguta being on the frontline as chairperson of the National Task Force he created platforms to address the multiple aspects of the covid19 pandemic.
The Presidential Scientific Initiative on Epidemics (PRESIDE) a think tank of scientists with a core mission of developing products and tools to respond to COVID-19 and other epidemics in collaboration with physicians have worked hard to balance the different medicines to control the disease and this has helped a number of patients to recover.
A total of 23 projects have been funded through PRESIDE where scientific hackathons have been held to engage scientists in developing various products in the areas of Vaccines, Therapeutics and Diagnostics. PRESIDE has also been working with scientists in multiple research institutions to bring together expertise to work on specific solutions.
Government says that the covid19 treatment that is being clinically tried (clinical trial) is a result of a rigorous process of analysis, validation, approval and certification by the regulatory authorities in Uganda.
The Natural Chemotherapeutics Research Institute (NCRI) led by Dr. Grace Nambatya Kyeyune was fully funded by the Government to develop and produce natural chemotherapeutic products to treat viral and bacterial infections which includes the (UBV-01N) covid19 treatment that has been launched today by H.E Yoweri Kaguta Museveni at Mulago Hospital for clinical trials.
During his address President Museveni referred to the thoughts of individuals who think that covid19 treatment and vaccine can not be done locally, a slave mentality.
The study is aimed at enrolling 128 participants. The target participants will be adult males and females aged 18-70 years with a positive COVID-19 test and admitted at Mulago national referral hospital. For female patients, they should not be pregnant or breastfeeding or intending to get pregnant during the period when the trial is taking place.
The government through the Ministry of Finance, provided funds that were channelled through the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovations (MOSTI) to procure equipment and meet operational costs.
This will be the first clinical trial of a highly scientific process to analyze and validate a natural product anticipated to have antiviral (kill viruses), anti-inflammatory (reduces over reaction of the body to infections) and immunological (directs the immune system in the right direction) ability.
The clinical trial will validate the content, standardization and replication of the product after which it will be rolled out for industrial production and wide spread use.
Government of Uganda still confirms to the public that the UBV-01N product has already gone through multiple quality assurance steps and got all necessary certifications and approval from the National Drug Authority (NDA), Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) and National Council for Science and Technology for use in human beings in a clinical trial setting by a highly competent team in Mulago Hospital.
Ugandans who have tested positive for Covid-19 and would like to voluntarily participate in the Clinical trial have been urged to contact the Coordinator on Tel. +256-782-404431.
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