{UAH} A DISINFECTANT IS NOT A CURE. NOR IS IT A VACCINE!

As I refresh my motorcycle riding skills (photo attached), allow me to state that yesterday we heard the Speaker of Parliament discussing some new "treatment" for Corvid-19. She excitedly said it would be manufactured in Uganda "within a fortnight".

There is a global pandemic out there. And there are long standing procedures for certifying medication & treatment. Therefore leaders must be extremely careful about what they state to the public.

Based on the response by the Ministry of Health to a query on this matter, it is clear that there is a serious miscommunication going on.

Therefore our local leaders have to understand that there is a big difference between Corvid-19 medication, a Corvid-19 vaccine, and a simple disinfectant spray.

What if people start drinking/ingesting the disinfectant thinking it is a cure?

It is this kind of misinformation that needs to be corrected immediately and publicly, in light of all the heightened efforts to curb the looming pandemic.

As we all know, Africa is already in a difficult position to fight such plagues given our lack of resources and adequate facilities. So let us not make our own situation worse through intentional or unintentional misinformation.

It is important that the responsible authorities at the Ministry of health come out to remove any confusion or ambiguity by clarifying the situation in a press conference or public communiqué.

In regards to our excitement about the new product being developed in Uganda, an individual could spray Uganda Waragi on their hands and it will also sanitize/kill 99% of bacteria and viruses that could be on their hands as well. So in terms of effectiveness, Obote who started Uganda Waragi production in the 60's, is as good an innovator as anyone producing corona virus disinfectants today.

But that does not mean that Uganda Waragi is a treatment for someone suffering from the corona virus. It also clearly doesn't mean that Uganda Waragi is a vaccine. It simply means that surfaces can be cleaned from bacteria and viruses using any high alcohol content liquid. This is taught at school.

Remember the rigourous scientific vetting that was conducted in the case of cures/treatment for HIV/AIDS. These checks prevented all sorts of outrageous claims by unscrupulous individuals, and therefore helped people get the right treatment. That same criteria needs to be implemented in regards to any claims of a corona virus cure and/or vaccine. 

Meanwhile, as of yesterday Monday 16th March, we now have 29 African countries affected by Corvid-19, with;

- 376 confirmed cases.

- 7 deaths, and

- 39 recoveries already.

(Source: World Health Organization/BBC).

I would rather the Speaker of Parliament uses this opportunity of the new sanitizer to campaign for schools to teach children the new recommendations of washing hands with soap all the time, and maybe provide the new sanitizer to government schools, so that children not only learn better hygiene practices, but mostly so that they have an even better chance to survive the looming pandemic?

Signed: Mr. Hussein Lumumba Amin

17th March 2020

Kampala, Uganda.

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