A World Health Organisation technical team is in South Africa to assess progress on the country’s research work on traditional medicines, Science and Innovation Minister Blade Nzimande said on Wednesday.
Welcoming the panel of experts from the UN agency in Pretoria, Nzimande said his ministry has made significant investment in using traditional African medicines against Covid-19 – and this has seen substantial research being conducted in the recent past.
“Two multi-herbal formulations and three mono-herbs reached essential pre-clinical stages, and was approved by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority for clinical trials,” the minister said.
The experts are expected to visit, among others, the clinical trial sites and the African Medicines Health Research Unit of te University of the Free State being funded by the ministry.
At the end of the mission, a report would be produced and presented to WHO and relevant stakeholders, according to Nzimande.
South Africa and Tanzania are the two African countries conducting multi-centre clinical trials of traditional medicines, the minister said.
The WHO technical mission comprises officials from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership, African Union Commission and WHO Regional Expert Advisory Committee on Traditional Medicine for Covid-19 Response.
NM/jn/APA