Patrick Ogwang

Last updated

Patrick Ogwang
Born (1973-01-01) 1 January 1973 (age 52)
Otuboi Village, Kaberamaido District, Uganda
NationalityUgandan
CitizenshipUganda
Alma mater Makerere University
Occupation(s)Pharmacist
Pharmacologist
Medical Researcher
Entrepreneur
Years active2004 – present
Known forProfessional competence
Title Associate Professor of Pharmacology at Mbarara University
Principal Investigator at Pharm-Bio Technology and Traditional Medicine Center
Executive Chairman of Jena Herbals Uganda Limited.

Patrick Engeu Ogwang (born 1 January 1973) is a Ugandan pharmacist, pharmacologist, ethnobotanist, medical researcher and entrepreneur, who serves as an associate professor and Head of the Department of Pharmacy at Mbarara University in Uganda. He concurrently serves as the Executive Chairman of Jena Herbals Uganda Limited, [1] a private company that he founded that manufactures Covidex, an herbal extract from three indigenous Ugandan plants, which has shown activity against a number of human viruses including COVID-19. [2] [3]

Contents

Background and education

Ogwang was born circa 1973, in Otuboi Village, in Kaberamaido District, in Uganda's Eastern Region. His father was an Itesot and his mother was Langi. His father died first and then his mother also passed away. Ogwang was then raised by an uncle. [2] [3]

While growing up, he observed how his mother would preserve different herbs and prepare them for her children when they fell ill with minor ailments such as fever, stomach pains and upper respiratory infections. He would later take a deep interest in these plants, including laboratory analysis. [2] [3]

After attending local primary school, he studied at St. Mary's College Kisubi, in Wakiso District, where he obtained his high school diploma in the mid 1990s. He was admitted to Makerere University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Pharmacy degree. He followed that with a Master of Pharmacology, from Makerere University as well. His third degree is a Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmacology, from the same university. [2] [3]

Research

Beginning circa 2004, Ogwang began serious study of the chemical compounds in the medicinal plants that were in his mother's first-aid kit. He began tinkering with various combinations and mixtures together with different concentrations and dilutions. According to media interviews he has given, he came up with a compound that has prevented one of his family members from suffering sickle cell crises for nearly twenty years. Another compound, when taken all year, provides immunity against contracting malaria. Ogwang also took off time and volunteered at the National Chemotherapeutic Research Institute (NCRI), in Wandegeya, under Dr. Grace Nambatya Kyeyune. [2] [3]

Covidex

In 2020, when an American visiting professor contracted COVD-19 in Uganda, Ogwang modified a concoction that he had been developing to treat viral mouth ulcers. He gave it to the American to drop into his nostrils several times a day. Prior research had shown that the mixture had antiviral properties. The visitor made a full recovery in short order! A colleague of the guest professor who had traveled with him to Uganda also fell ill with COVID-19 and was also helped, without having to be admitted. [2] [3]

In May/June 2021, when the delta variant of the COVID-19 made its entry into Uganda, Ogwang shared his anti-COVID-19 nasal drops with some family members and close friends and they all got better. Then Professor Ogwang himself came down with COVID-19. He used his medicine which he calls Covidex to heal himself. After he had about 10 documented cases, he approached the National Drug Authority for an emergency license. He was awarded a temporary emergency license, while he arranges full clinical trials. Medical practitioners may use Covidex along with other treatment regimens, since Covidex is known to have anti-viral properties. [2] [3] [4]

Awards and honors

In April 2024, Professor Ogwang was recognized as the "Most Outstanding In Complementary Medicine" at the third annual "Africa Outstanding Professional Awards" at a ceremony held at the Dar es Salaam Serena Hotel on 23 April 2024. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

Shaban Bantariza was a Colonel in the Uganda People's Defense Force (UPDF). He served as the deputy director of the Uganda Media Centre and deputy government spokesperson, from June 2015.

Makerere University College of Health Sciences (MakCHS) is a constituent college of Makerere University, Uganda's oldest university. The schools of the college offer undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the biomedical sciences, health sciences, human medicine and public health, covering a broad range of disciplines and specialties.

Erias Lukwago Ssalongo, is a Ugandan lawyer and politician. He is the lord mayor of the city of Kampala, the capital of Uganda and the largest metropolitan area in the country. He was first elected to that position on 14 January 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Mary's College Kisubi</span> Public all boys high school (13-19) school in Kisubi, Wakiso District, Uganda

St. Mary's College Kisubi (SMACK) is a private, boarding, middle and high school located in Wakiso District in the Central Region of Uganda. It was established in 1906.

John Musisi Senyonyi is a Ugandan mathematician, academic, evangelist and academic administrator. He is the immediate past Vice Chancellor of Uganda Christian University, a private university that was accredited by the Uganda National Council of Higher Education (UNCHE), in 1997. He was appointed to that position in 2010. Following ten continuous years in that position, he retired, and handed over to Aaron Mushengyezi, in August 2020.

Kiira Motors Corporation or KMC is a State Enterprise in Uganda established to champion the Development of the Domestic Automotive Value Chain for job and wealth creation and commercialize the Kiira Electric Vehicle Project. The Equity Partners are the Government of the Republic of Uganda represented by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Office of the President holding 96% of the initial stock and Makerere University holding 4%.

Magid Mayanja Kagimu is a Ugandan physician, academic and community leader, who serves as Professor of Medicine and Head of the Gastroenterology Division at Makerere University College of Health Sciences, in Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city.

Pauline Byakika–Kibwika is a Ugandan specialist physician, internist, epidemiologist, academic and researcher. She was appointed and announced as the vice chancellor of Mbarara University of Science and Technology in August 2024 after emerging the best out of the 5 candidates shortlisted for the job. She previously served as a professor of medicine at Makerere University College of Health Sciences. From 2017 until 2019, she served as the vice president of the Uganda Medical Association, a professional industry association that champions medical doctors' interests in Uganda.

William Bazeyo is a Ugandan physician, public health specialist, academic, researcher, and academic administrator. From September 2017 until October 2020, he was the deputy vice chancellor in charge of finance and administration at Makerere University. During the preceding eight years, he was the dean of the Makerere University School of Public Health.

Noble Banadda was a Ugandan biosystems engineer, researcher and academic, who was a professor of biosystems engineering at Makerere University, Uganda's largest and oldest public university. He was appointed a full professor in 2012 at age 37, one of the youngest persons in the history of the university to attain full professorship.

Ponsiano Ocama is a Ugandan physician, researcher, academic and academic administrator, who is an associate professor of medicine and former head of department of Internal Medicine at Makerere University School of Medicine, a component of Makerere University College of Health Sciences.

Richard Iwa Idro is a Ugandan pediatric neurologist, researcher and academic, who serves as an associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Child Health at Makerere University College of Health Sciences.

Vinand Mukatabala Nantulya, is a Ugandan physician, pathologist, medical researcher, entrepreneur and academic administrator, who since 3 October 2017, serves as the Chancellor of Busitema University, a public university in the Eastern Region of Uganda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Ogwang</span> Ugandan politician

Peter Ogwang is a Ugandan politician. He is the current Minister of State for Sports in the Ugandan Cabinet. He was appointed to that position on 22 July 2022, replacing Denis Obua. Previously, he was the State Minister for Economic Monitoring and had earlier served as the State Minister for Information, Communication, ICT and National Guidance. He is also the elected Member of Parliament for Usuk County in Katakwi District, in the 10th Parliament (2016-2021).

Doreen Nyanjura is a Ugandan politician, who was on 18 June 2020, appointed Deputy Lord Mayor for Kampala, replacing Sarah Kanyike. She also serves as the elected Local Council 5 (LCV) Woman Councillor, representing Makerere University at Kampala Capital City Authority, the governing body of Kampala, the capital and largest city of Uganda. She was elected to her present position in 2016.

Monica Musenero Masanza is a Ugandan veterinarian, microbiologist and epidemiologist, who serves as a consultant epidemiologist to the government of Uganda and serves as an advisor to the president of Uganda on epidemics and pandemics. She previously served as the Principal Epidemiologist and Assistant Commissioner for Epidemiology and Surveillance in the Uganda Ministry of Health. She has previously played leading roles in the control of Ebola epidemics in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in the West African country of Sierra Leone.

Damalie Nakanjako, is a Ugandan specialist physician, internist, immunologist, infectious diseases consultant, academic and researcher, who serves as the Principal and Professor of Medicine at Makerere University College of Health Sciences. Immediately prior to her present position, she served as Dean of Makerere University School of Medicine, from 2019 until 17 February 2021.

Betty Asiimwe Mpeka Tusubira,, but commonly known as Betty Mpeka, was a Ugandan physician and public health specialist, who at the time of her death, was the Deputy Chief of Party of Uganda Indoor Residual Spraying Project Phase II, at the Uganda Ministry of Health, based in Kampala, the capital of that East African country.

Grace Nambatya Kyeyune, is a Ugandan medicinal chemist, researcher and academic, who serves as the Director of Research at the National Chemotherapeutic Research Institute (NCRI), based in Kampala, Uganda's capital city. According to its website, NCRI is a state-owned "research and development institute in natural products and traditional and complementary health systems". As of July 2021, Nambatya is credited with developing five compounds, currently in clinical and public use, which are extracted from Ugandan plants and herbs.

Peter Kyobe Waiswa is a Ugandan researcher, medical doctor and academic administrator. He is an associate professor of Health Policy, Planning and Management at Makerere University. Waiswa is a health policy and health systems expert with a special interest in maternal, newborn and child health in low and middle-income countries. He is the chaiperson board of directors for Busoga Health Forum (BHF).

References

  1. ↑ "Jena Herbals Uganda Limited". jenaherbals. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Gerald Tenywa (2 July 2021). "Who is Ogwang, the brains behind Covidex?". New Vision . Kampala. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Simon Kasyate (7 July 2021). "Prof Ogwang tells journey of Covidex". The Observer (Uganda) . Kampala. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  4. ↑ Halima Athumani (30 June 2021). "Uganda Approves Herbal Treatment for COVID-19". Voice of America . Washington, DC. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  5. ↑ Rogers Atukunda (27 April 2024). ""I Have Humanity At Heart" Says Covidex Inventor Professor Ogwang After Winning Continental Award". SoftPower Uganda. Kampala, Uganda. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.