Coronavirus: the Burkinabe government reframes the debate on the efficacy of Apivirine

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Since the announcement on March 26 by the authorities of a clinical trial on Apivirine (an antiretroviral used in the treatment of HIV), against Covid-19, Internet users assure that this product has already cured patients. Rumors that have led the government to reframe things.

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With our correspondent in Ouagadougou , Yaya Boudani

According to the Ministry of Scientific Research, the team of researchers from the Institute for Research in Health Sciences has not yet certified and recommended the use of Apivirine in the treatment of patients with Covid-19.

The Burkinabè government recalls that no scientific study has yet proven the efficacy of Apivirine against Covid-19. Apivirine is a drug developed twenty years ago by Valentin Agon, a Beninese researcher.

" Under the current protocol, no doctor can tell you that someone has been treated with Apivirine, " said government spokesperson Remis Fulgance Dandjinou. People use it and claim to have been healed by it. This is why the protocol needs to be implemented, so that the scientific value of what is said can be affirmed and become rule, in particular with regard to Covid-19. "

Even if the country has just authorized the use of chloroquine, for the treatment of certain patients with coronavirus, Claudine Lougué, the Minister of Health warns against self-medication. “ Let people know that they must be treated with chloroquine in a medical environment or under medical supervision. Because you should not do self-medication, as this can lead to a lot of inconvenience. "

In this fight against self-medication against the coronavirus, a pharmacy has just been closed for illegally importing rapid tests not approved by Burkina Faso according to the Minister of Health.

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• Health and Medicine
• Coronavirus
• Burkina Faso

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