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COVID-19: WHO sets rules for testing African remedies
The World Health Organization (WHO) has agreed rules for testing African herbal remedies to combat Covid-19.
Solid science would be the only basis for the adoption of safe and effective traditional therapies, he said.
Any traditional remedy that is considered effective could be accelerated for large-scale manufacturing.
The Madagascar leader has been promoting an unproven product that he says can cure the disease despite the WHO warning against using unproven remedies.
The WHO said the new rules were aimed at helping and empowering scientists in Africa to conduct proper clinical trials.
The move comes as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide exceeds 30 million, with more than 957,000 deaths reported worldwide. In Africa, more than 1.3 million cases have been recorded and more than 33,000 deaths have been reported.
Around 140 potential vaccines for Covid-19 are being developed worldwide, with dozens already being tested in people in clinical trials.
‘Accelerate investigation’
Parallel to these efforts, phase three clinical trials using traditional African medicines have now been given the green light.
A panel of experts, created by WHO, the African Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the African Union Commission for Social Affairs, has agreed on the protocols.
Phase three trials generally test the safety and efficacy of a drug in larger groups of participants.
“The adoption of the technical documents will ensure that universally acceptable clinical evidence of the efficacy of herbal medicines for the treatment of Covid-19 is generated without compromising the safety of the participants,” said Professor Motlalepula Gilbert Matsabisa, President of the panel.
“The emergence of Covid-19, like the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, has highlighted the need to strengthen health systems and accelerate research and development programs, including traditional medicine,” said Dr. Prosper Tumusiime from the WHO in the statement.
In April, Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina launched Covid-Organics with great fanfare, saying it was prevention and remedy. It had been tested in 20 people over a period of three weeks.
Rajoelina supports the herbal blend, even though the Indian Ocean island has had 15,925 coronavirus infections and 216 Covid-19 deaths.
The drink, which has also been shipped to dozens of African countries, is produced by the Malagasy Institute for Applied Research from the mugwort plant, the source of an ingredient used in the treatment of malaria, and other Malagasy plants.
Dr Tumusiime said that through the WHO African Vaccine Regulatory Forum, there is now a way to evaluate and approve clinical drug trials in the region in less than 60 days.
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