VP ALUPO | INNOVATIONS | GOVERNMENT 

KAMPALA - Government will continue supporting innovations and interventions of local therapeutics, the Vice President, Jessica Alupo, has said.
 
“We all deserve to have a complete and efficient flow of drugs from government stores to health units. It is the reason why I inspected National Medical Stores (NMS) this morning. We will continue supporting innovations and interventions of local therapeutics. We have so much confidence in this team,” Alupo stated.
 
The Vice President made the remarks while inspecting the NMS offices on Friday (July 23). NMS is a government agency mandated to procure, store and distribute medicines and medical supplies to government-owned health facilities.
 
As part of efforts to support innovations in local therapeutics, government through the National Drug Authority has supported research in a number of new local drugs, including the latest remedies like Covidex and Covilyce 1, both used in the treatment of COVID-19.
 
Covidex was developed by Assoc. Prof. Patrick Engeu Ogwang, the head of the pharmacology department at Mbarara University of Science and Technology. As a result, government has allocated free land to Prof. Ogwang at Namanve Industrial park to allow him produce Covidex massively.
 
On the other hand, Gulu University’s Faculty of Bio-technology and Pharmaceutical Studies (PharmBiotec) headed by Dr Alice Veronica Lamwaka has made significant strides towards the discovery of a treatment for Covid-19 called Covilyce 1.
 
President Yoweri Museveni last week authorised the release of sh3.7b funding to Gulu University to speed up its research into the coronavirus disease cure research.