COA Mixture, an immune booster and food supplement locally made in Ghana is soon to be placed on the list of essential medicines under the coverage of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
This was one of the fine highlights of the re-launch on Wednesday, May 25, 2022, of what has been described as a medicinal breakthrough in Ghana.
According to insiders, COA Research and Manufacturing Company, manufacturers of COA Mixture are in the concluding stages of talks with the government to put the immune booster on the NHIS.
Being a pure organic medicine that bioenergises, rejuvenates, and harmonises the immunological cells, COA Mixture has been proven to be effective for boosting the immune system against many ailments caused by viruses.
Its ingredients are listed as Azadirachta indica, Carica papaya, Spondias mombin, Vernonia amygdalina, Ocimum viride, and Persea americana (Avocado)
A study conducted on COA FS at the School of Pharmacy, KwaZulu Natal University, South Africa, revealed in preliminary phytochemicals screening that the 161 organic compounds in the ingredients of COA FS have amazing health benefits so when one takes 10 mL of COA FS one benefits from 161 natural health compounds which the body needs to sustain the immune system.
The mixture, which was formerly known as COA FS became famous earlier in 2020 when the country was in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic as patients who tried it started to give testimony.
The development had led, Professor Samuel Ato Duncan, Chief Executive Officer of COA Herbal Centre, to register it with the food and Drugs Authority (FDA) as an essential health supplement and not simply a food supplement, however some crooks at the FDA had demanded huge bribes from him as a pre-condition for registering the immune booster.
When he refused, the crooks concocted lies against the product, claiming some of the products had bacterial infections and then used that excuse to withdraw the product from the market.
A quick-thinking Prof. Ato Duncan would later pretend to acquiesce and then secretly record the bribe demands that he made available to the public leading to public uproar.
Wednesday’s re-launch of the product was therefore a victory for both herbal medicine and a defeat against the corrupt officials lurking at the FDA.
At colorful launch, Deputy Trade Minister, Michael Okyere Baafi, represented Trade Minister, Alan Kyeremanten and read a speech on his behalf.
“The global market for herbal medicines has an estimated value of about $110 billion per annum, globally and it is projected to reach $178 billion in 2026. The good news is that most of these medicinal plants are found in the country and the continent by extension. It is in this regard, that the Government is happy to note the expansion in the herbal industry in Ghana which seeks to position the sector to tap into the global market in order to boost non-traditional exports,” the Minister stated.