**3. Plant based drug for the management of COVID 19: reality or hope?**

At the end of 2019, a novel coronavirus was identified as the cause of a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, a city in the Hubei Province of China. It rapidly spread, resulting in a global pandemic. The disease is designated COVID-19, which stands for coronavirus disease 2019 [20].

Corona disease caused by the acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a major threat to global health.

Disinfection is one of the trending public health measure implemented in community settings to help in reducing the transmission of the disease by the elimination of the viral agent.

The long term use of these disinfectants can cause skin damage or hypersensitivity [21].

According to A. Taghizadehghalehjoughi et al., graviola has a strong protective effect on PH changes damage induction. Therefore, we recommend the use of graviola after hand disinfections.

In Cameroon, the first case was reported on the 06th March 2020, a traveler who arrived there on the 24th February 2020 from France [22].

The socio-economic and health situations of indigenous people allow them with no alternative to the less expensive readily available traditional concoctions [23].

Cameroon is located in central Africa with a population of over 25 million of young people with a median age of 18.7 years and 41.25% of the population being between zero and 14 years old [24].

In Cameroon, access to health care services is challenging. One out of every 1000 patients is able to see a specialist and 3 out of 20 patients are able to buy prescribed drugs in hospitals [25].

According to E. Fongnzossie Fedoung et al., since the first case was reported in our country, several herbal recipes have been popularized in social media, as alleged solutions to manage COVID 19. According to a recent release from the Cameroon Radio and Television Corporation, the Archbishop of Douala, His grace Samuel Kleda, has made public an attempt at treating symptoms of COVID-19 with an herbal remedy, free of charge and the Ministry of Public Health is showing commitment to support the process of development and homologation of this treatment (CRTV, 2020).

Nowadays, the COVID 19 care in Cameroon relies mostly on vaccination and trending public health interventions like wearing a mask in public spaces, the use of hand sanitizers and/or social distancing.

During the pandemic, people were afraid to attend health facilities to get tested for COVID 19 and isolated in specialized treatment centers, also personnel was not well prepared to handle this type of public health emergency.

Confirmed cases were admitted to various hospitals for treatment regimens that included oral chloroquine, azithromycin, immune system support vitamins such as vit C and zinc, and other treatment options for moderate to severe conditions.

Most people experienced mild form of COVID 19 and were admitted in a treatment center in Yaoundé according to Fouda Mbarga et al., [22].

The Ministry of Health encourages people to get the full COVID 19 vaccine, but people prefer to get herbal medicine from the informal sector.

According to World Health Organization (WHO) coronavirus dashboard, from January 3, 2020 to February 21, 2022, in Cameroon, there have been 118,933 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 1918 deaths, reported to the organization. As of February 15, 2022, a total of 1,024,333 vaccine doses have been administered [26]. Since the start of the global pandemic, the number of confirmed cases and deaths has increased, according to this situation report.
