The Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi), an international drugs research entity, on Tuesday, released a statement stating that clinical trials will be conducted in 19 places to identify therapeutics. The large scale trials would help prevent coronavirus patients from reaching critical stages.
John Nkengasong, director of Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, "There is a need for large clinical trials in Africa for COVID-19 to answer research questions that are specific to an African context.”
More than 20 global and African research organisations will be part of the ANTICOV consortium that will test the safety and efficiency of treatments in 2,000 to 3,000 mild to moderate COVID-19 patients in the 13 Sub-Saharan African countries.
DNDi will coordinate the clinical trials to help discover medicines that can reduce the severity of the infection and also decrease the strain on public healthcare centres.
"It is heartening to see so many African countries collaborate to get much-needed answers about our unique COVID-19 patient needs," said Borna Nyaoke-Anoke, senior Clinical Project manager at DNDi.
She further added, "We need research here in Africa that will inform policies and test-and-treat strategies so that as clinicians we can give the best options to people with COVID-19.”
Researchers working in association with the ANTICOV consortium will recognise the most hopeful treatment options for mild coronavirus cases in Africa.
The therapeutics being explored for treating mild covid are amongst those used for treating malaria, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis c, parasitic infections and some types of cancers.
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Soumya Swaminathan, chief scientist of the World Health Organization said, "We support the ANTICOV trial because it will provide key data about early treatment for COVID-19, a knowledge gap that numerous scientists have called to fill in recent months.”
Swaminathan praising Africa’s research initiative on novel drugs for treating mild covid cases said that their performance and policies will help other countries to fight the pandemic.