Nigeria has dumped the use of NanoSilver for the treatment of the fast spreading Ebola Virus Disease.
The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, who announced this on Saturday in Lagos, said the drug did not meet basic research requirements.
Chukwu, who had on Thursday announced the arrival of the drug in Nigeria, said it was made available to the Emergency Operations Centre in Lagos on August 14, but it did not meet basic research requirements.
He said: “The experimental drug, Nanosilver, did not meet the requirements of the National Health Research Ethics Code.
“Accordingly, approval was withheld by the National Health Research Ethics Committee.
“Other candidate drugs are being evaluated by the Treatment Research Group of Ebola Disease.
“As soon as any of the experimental drugs is cleared by the National Health Research Ethics Committee and is made available, we shall include it in the treatment regimen subject to the informed consent of the patient.”
Chukwu denied the rumour of Ebola virus in Imo, Abia and Cross River States, adding that the case of the disease in Kwara State was still under investigation.
He said: “The mother of the child in Kwara tested negative and we are still investigating the child.
“Also, the corpse in Anambra was embalmed and we are awaiting result of the test.
“All the mortuary attendants who had contact with the corpse tested negative, so there is no need to panic.”
On the suspension of resident doctors’ training by the Federal Government, Chukwu said there had been problems with the training, which also informed the ongoing doctors’ strike.
According to Chukwu, the suspension is with all Federal Government hospitals, adding that states’ teaching hospitals were not affected.
He said: “The government suspended the training to allow for critical investigation and come up with better ways to improve the training.”
Chukwu also said the paper work for insurance package for volunteers was ongoing, adding that Lagos State Government had commenced implementation of insurance package for health workers.
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