THE FATE OF COVILYCE HERBAL REMEDY LIES IN MUSEVENI’S PLEDGES
Lamwak says she is never worried, although the World Health Organization has declared the Corona virus no longer a health emergency.
By Christopher Nyeko
GULU: Covilcye-1 herbal remedy is one of the herbal products invented by a team of 27 researchers at Gulu University under the headship of Prof. Alice Lamwaka Veronica, who is the lead investigator, a senior lecturer in the faculty of medicine at Gulu University, a pharmacist, and the founder of the Pharm-biotechnology and Traditional Medicine Centre at Gulu University.
In an exclusive interview with this publication, Dr. Lamwak assured the public that the herbal concoction she invented in 2021 by mixing eight different herbs during the peak of the second wave of coronavirus remains relevant and is still among the most sought-after herbal products in the local market.
According to Lamwak, the herb has remained in high demand in both local, national, and international searches due to its efficacy and multifunctional purposes in curing both bacterial, fungal, and viral infections.
Lamwak says she is never worried, although the World Health Organization has declared the Corona virus no longer a health emergency.
“Covilyce-1 herbal product has become more relevant even after the corona; I continue to receive numbers of patients who are suffering from long-term COVID-19 effects, and they are getting cured of the condition with the help of her herbal concoction, covilyce-1,” she claimed during the interview.
According to Lamwak, on a daily basis, she receives about 10 patients diagnosed with conditions such as hypertension, post-traumatic stress disorder, erectile dysfunction, and difficulties in smelling and breathing who continue to seek the help of my herbal remedy, and after they are put on Covilyce-1 treatment, they usually get well and testify to other people who continue to flock to our facility.
Lamwak reveals that from 2020 to date, about 300 COVID-19 patients have been treated with Cocilyce-1, adding that the product is being sought after at both local, national, and international levels, as some of the researchers from developed countries have also taken an interest in her Cocilyce-1 herbal remedy.
Nevertheless, this herbal concoction, which has been praised by the local people for its efficacy and rare effect on increasing sexual libido, has never been presented through clinical trials, something that is making the innovators undergo a sleepless night.
What we are doing to confirm that people are getting cured of various health conditions after using Covilcy-1 is monitoring them through what she called clinical observatory research.
“I am unable to take Covilyce-1 herbal remedy for a clinical trial due to insufficient funding because the clinical trial required wider human resources and a lot of reagents, instruments, and equipment that I cannot manage alone,” she lamented.
In 2023, the president pledged to give Gulu University a total of 3.7 billion shillings, which Lamwaka says, when released, will help her team conclude that research.
Lamwaka told UGReports that the latest report she got from the office of the president was six months ago, saying the money would come.
“The delay in presidential pledge has hinted negatively on my research work because I would have moved far away if the money was released timely. I have only been able to conduct a phytochemical test with the help of the multifunctional laboratory at Gulu University, which has helped me identify the number of agents and chemical compounds present in my herb and now I am able to determine how much quantity I should administer to a patient,’’ she said.
Lamwaka’s only hope now lies in the hands of presidential pledges, and she is optimistic that the president will one day fulfill his pledge. She will use the funding to establish a center of excellence for herbal treatment in Uganda, and they will embark on mass manufacturing of many of the herbal medicines that are currently being administered to patients in crude form.
Okello Elvis Romanson, the medical biostatistician of Gulu district, who was addressing the journalist in one of the health cafés organized by health journalists Uganda at the Palema Hotel in Gulu city, appreciated the government of Uganda for taking proactive approaches to respond to COVID-19.
He discloses that people aren’t understanding the phrase “prevention is better than cure”.
Abalo Rebec, Project officer for Terra Renaissance, one of the local Non-governmental organizations actively offering psychosocial support to the COVID-19 quarantine facilities in Gulu City, says a number of initiatives for fighting corona are now vanishing.
She emphasized that initiatives such as medicine should be supported so that people can use them because the corona has come to say with the people.
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