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“This review will build on global technical and ethical standards to obtain the necessary scientific evidence.”
Former Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina. Image: United Nations photo.
ANTANANARIVO – Madagascar is putting its so-called plant-based cure for COVID-19 up for sale, and several African countries have already placed purchase orders, despite warnings from the World Health Organization that its efficacy has not been proven.
On Wednesday, the Vice President of the African Union Commission (AU), Kwesi Quartey, tweeted that Madagascar’s health ministry “agreed to collaborate with the African Union and the African Center for Disease Control to further explore, the remedy they have discovered for the treatment of COVID-19 to benefit the continent in general. “
The UA said on Monday that it was trying to obtain technical data from Madagascar on the remedy, and would pass it on to the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for evaluation.
“This review will build on global technical and ethical standards to obtain the necessary scientific evidence,” said the UA.
Excited to update it, the Republic of #MadagascarCure Through its Ministry of Health, it has agreed to collaborate with the @ _African Union and @AfricaCDC To explore further, the remedy they have discovered for treating # COVID-19 to benefit the continent in general. pic.twitter.com/Uf7SseUL2o
– Kwesi Quartey. (@AU_KwesiQuartey) May 13, 2020
Last month, President Andry Rajoelina launched the self-proclaimed remedy at a press conference, drinking from a fancy-brand bottle filled with an amber liquid that he said had already cured two people.
On Friday, a delegation from Tanzania arrived in Madagascar to collect their shipment.
The tonic, based on the Artemisia annua plant that has antimalarial properties, has not undergone any internationally recognized scientific test. Although Rajoelina praised its virtues, the WHO warned that it is necessary to evaluate its effectiveness and its side effects.
Madagascar has been giving away thousands of bottles of “COVID-19 Organics”, developed by the state-run Malagasy Institute for Applied Research.
Tanzania, Equatorial Guinea, the Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia and Guinea Bissau have already received thousands of doses of COVID-19 Organics for free.
A legal adviser in the president’s office told Reuters on Wednesday that Madagascar would now start selling the remedy, which in the country can be bought for around 40 cents a bottle.
“This remedy can be put on the market,” Marie Michelle Sahondrarimalala, director of Legal Studies for the Presidency, told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday. “Madagascar has already received orders from state authorities in other countries, but also from individuals.”
The heads of other African countries said they were placing orders.
Isolated compounds extracted from Artemisia are effective in antimalarial drugs, the WHO noted, but the plant itself cannot treat malaria.
WHO Chief for Africa Matshidiso Moeti said he was concerned that people who drank the product might feel that they were immune to COVID-19 and behave in a risky manner.
“We are concerned that promoting this product as a preventative measure may make people feel safe,” he said.
Guinea Bissau has received over 16,000 doses that it is distributing to the other 14 West African nations. Liberia’s deputy information minister Eugene Farghon said this week that there was no plan to test the remedy prior to distribution.
“It will be used by Liberians and will be used by Liberians,” he said, noting that the WHO had not tried other popular local remedies. “Madagascar is an African country … Therefore, we will proceed as an African nation and continue to use our African herbs.”
As of Thursday, Madagascar had a total of 225 confirmed coronavirus cases, 98 recoveries, and no deaths.
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