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No, Ugandan parliament speaker’s coronavirus ‘cure’ just external disinfectant

“Uganda will start the production of Coronavirus vaccine in two weeks,” reads the headline of an article on the Kenyan site Breaking News

The article says the speaker of Uganda’s parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, claimed on 16 March that treatment for Covid-19 had been developed in the US.

In a video of the proceedings, Kadaga says: “A professor who manufactured the treatment for coronavirus in the US was here last week and has donated the patent to Uganda and within a fortnight the treatment will be right here it should be available in the market here in Uganda.”



‘First product that instantly kills coronavirus’


Also on 16 March, Kadaga posted a video on Twitter captioned: “Here is evidence of the prof’s visit.” The footage shows Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni with Kadaga and men the speaker identified as “Prof. Safraz K. Niaz and Ugandan biochemist Mathias Magoola”.

“I've told Parliament that a spray, which instantly kills the Corona virus, has been discovered & is to be co-produced in Uganda,” she tweeted. “It goes on the market next week. The American inventor, Prof. Safraz K. Niaz, was here at the weekend & donated the patent, free of charge to Uganda.”

She added: “Prof. Sarfaraz, an advisor to the US Congress & Govt, has teamed up with a Ugandan biochemist, Mathias Magoola, to produce the product at DEI Group, in Luzira, Kampala. It will be the first product that instantly kills the Corona virus.”

Has a treatment that cures coronavirus disease been developed in the US and donated to Uganda?

‘No drug cures or immunises against #Covid19’


On 17 March, the Uganda Medical Associationput the record straight”, clarifying that there was currently no medicine that cured Covid-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

In a statement released on Twitter the same day, the association said: “We inform the country that as of today there is no specific drug that cures or immunises against #Covid19.

“Any unevidenced claims of a treatment or cure without due scientific evidence and collaboration by a competent institution mandated to regulate medicines is not only incorrect but gives false hope and may also be dangerous to society. Instead it diverts the population from known and effective preventive messages.”

The association said the supposed “treatment, cure or vaccine” was “actually a disinfectant meant for external body use”. 

Kadaga has been active on Twitter seeking to clarify her position. 

No vaccine, no medicine for Covid-19


According to the World Health Organization, there is still “no specific medicine recommended to prevent or treat the new coronavirus (2019-nCoV)”.

“However, those infected with the virus should receive appropriate care to relieve and treat symptoms, and those with severe illness should receive optimized supportive care. Some specific treatments are under investigation, and will be tested through clinical trials. WHO is helping to accelerate research and development efforts with a range or partners.” – Grace Gichuhi




 

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