By Kefiloe Kajane
The recent emergence of a locally developed flu remedy and much acclaimed production of a treatment for Covid-19 have triggered calls for a strengthening of local scientific research to reduce foreign certification of indigenous knowledge systems.
Research, development and innovation is for any country the engine of its economic and social development. Common concern of all countries for science and scientific research appears as a recognition of their role in ensuring the welfare of human civilization.
According to experts, the level of society development is determined mainly by performance of its education and research systems, educational level of its citizens, the quality of research activity products and equitable access of all potential users to the services and products of these systems.
The National University of Lesotho’s (NUL) team of scientists led by Dr Lerato Seleteng-Kose has developed the first ever local cough syrup, known as OptiCough.
In an interview with theReporter, Dr Seleteng-Kose said the cough syrup relieves cough, fever and flu and it was released on September 2020 made with local herbs.
She indicated that producing this medicine was their way of promoting locally made and scientifically checked medicines.
She further indicated that there are numerous medications in Lesotho that are claimed to be cures for many illnesses but, because there is no medical body that checks the authenticity and approves medications, they may be harmful to humans, hence the promotion of scientifically proven ones.
She emphasized that it is important that Lesotho have such bodies because people are desperate for cures and will consume just about anything. She said such a body is needed that will approve medicines, to prevent any harm to people from untested medicines.
“OptiCough is already available at local pharmacies. We had two products that we were making, the cough syrup and the Covid-19 drug. The envisaged Covid-19 drug was taken to CSIR in South Africa for testing of anti-microbial effectiveness against Covid-19, while the cough syrup was tested here at NUL and on September 3 2020, it was released for consumption.”
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is a leading scientific and technology research organisation that researches, develops, localises and diffuses technologies to accelerate socioeconomic prosperity in South Africa. The organisation’s work contributes to industrial development and supports a capable state.
The CSIR was established through an Act of Parliament in 1945 and the organisation’s executive authority is the Minister of Science and Technology.
The organisation plays a key role in supporting public and private sectors through directed research that is aligned with the country’s priorities, the organisation’s mandate and its science, engineering and technology competences.
Dr Seleteng-Kose emphasised that, as scientists, they try to make sure that they at least test the medicines for toxicity, but there is a greater need for bodies like CSIR. She also lamented the lack of strong and credible laboratory capabilities.
In a recent open letter to the Prime Minister, local pharmacist Tebello Sarele said the ministry of health, is responsible for ensuring that all medicines (traditional, conventional and contemporary) and medical devices are of good quality, efficacy and safety.
He said the Drug Regulatory Bodies/ Medicines Regulatory Unit’s (MRU) main role is to ensure registration of medicines available in the country, uphold high standards in licensing of medicines and medical devices, monitoring of medicines utilization and most importantly to make provision and regulation of clinical trials for medicines as these are very crucial stages that a new medicine has to undergo in order to determine its efficacy, dosage and safety before it could be used for human consumption.
Sarele argued that the MRU has not been established by law, and that the Medicines and Medical Devices Bill has been pending for enactment for years and, at the moment, is at the door of a closed parliament.
