Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, has revealed the drug being used to treat COVID-19 patients in the country.
During his address to the House of Representatives on Tuesday, May 5, Ehanire mentioned that Remdesivir is being used as a treatment for patients with the virus.
“We have been using that (Remdesivir); we have tried that in Lagos too. So, we have tried the antiretroviral drug to see what effect it has” he said
The Minister highlighted that Remdesivir, originally developed as a potential treatment for Ebola, is among the options adopted by Nigeria for treating COVID-19 patients.
Remdesivir was tested in 1,063 hospitalized coronavirus patients globally and has been shown to reduce the average recovery time by 31%, from 15 days to 11 days for those given usual care.