The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, on Monday said that the Federal government was withholding its approval for the Anti-Ebola drug Nano-Silver produced by a Nigerian scientist in the diaspora.
Chukwu made this known when he received the U.S Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr James Entwistle, in his office in Abuja.
He said that the Nano Silver drug, which was made available to the Emergency Operations Centre in Lagos on Aug. 14, did not meet basic research requirements.
“The experimental drug, Nano Silver did not meet the requirements of the National Health Research Ethics Code. Accordingly, the approval was withheld by the National Health Research Ethics Committee,” Chukwu said.
He said the ambassador’s visit was an opportunity to share ideas and information on Ebola virus. “He is the spokesperson for the United States’ government here in Nigeria, and so he came to me as the Chief Public Health Officer of the country to exchange views with me,’’ he said.
