ESWATINI NOT REGISTERED FOR COVID-19 CLINICAL TRIALS

MBABANE – Eswatini is not part of 25 African countries that have registered for clinical trials for possible COVID-19 treatments.

This was confirmed by Director of Health Services Dr Vusi Magagula in response to a declaration by South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa, that 25 African countries had registered for clinical trials for possible COVID-19 treatments, including for the BCG vaccine, hydroxychloroquine, antiretroviral and remdesivir.

According to an SA online news publication, thesouthafrican.com, President Ramaphosa announced that the African nations had joined the race to produce test kits, with Senegal in an advanced stage of developing a low-cost test kit.

The president was quoted saying this formed part of the global solidarity clinical trials. He mentioned that whether it was repurposing health protocols used in other infectious disease outbreaks, rapidly deploying healthcare workers to communities, or launching mobile COVID-19 testing labs to improve testing capacities, Africa was working actively to overcome a global threat.

Progress

Ramaphosa was further quoted saying progress was being made all across the continent and under half of all the nations in Africa had registered for clinical trials to try and stamp out the virus for good.

Further, vaccines and anti-retrovirals were said to be getting the go-ahead, and products championed in the USA, such as hydroxychloroquine and remdesivir, would also be tested on willing participants. The president revealed that the country was determined in its bid to secure a vaccine to treat the novel coronavirus.

Meanwhile, Magagula said the kingdom was not among the countries that were registered.
However, he stated that the Ministry of Health was currently in the process of considering another COVID-19 vaccine which was entirely different from the one registered for by the 25 African countries. He said Eswatini had an interest in the vaccines offered by the WHO.

“We are not taking part at the moment, but we are looking into joining it. There are pros of these trials because countries get to benefit free medication, but there are also cons,” Magagula said.

He further stated that people could become physically deformed. In essence, he said it was imperative to be conscious of the implications of vaccine trials in the human body. Magagula said in the case where vaccines could be endorsed in the country, the vaccination would be voluntary and people would be vaccinated once they were consciously clear of what was happening. 

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