Madagascar's President Andry Rajoelina drinks a sample of Covid Organics which he touted as a remedy for coronavirus (AFP Photo/RIJASOLO) |
Johannesburg (AFP) - The World Health Organization on Thursday advised governments to clinically test a herbal drink touted by Madagascar's President Andry Rajoelina as a remedy against coronavirus.
The
Covid-Organics infusion is derived from artemisia -- a plant with proven
anti-malarial properties -- and other indigenous herbs.
Rajoelina
hopes to distribute the infusion across West Africa and beyond, claiming it
cures COVID-19 patients within 10 days.
Equatorial
Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and Niger have already received consignments of the
potion. Others such as Tanzania have expressed interest.
But the
World Health Organization (WHO) has repeatedly warned that there are no
published scientific studies of the herbal tea and that its effects have not
been tested.
"We
would caution and advise countries against adopting a product that has not been
taken through tests to see its efficacy," WHO Africa Director Matshidiso
Moeti said in a press briefing on Thursday, calling on Madagascar to take the
drink "through a clinical trial".
Moeti said
that in 2000, African governments had committed to taking "traditional
therapies" through the same clinical trials as other medication.
"I can
understand the need, the drive to find something that can help," Moeti
said. "But we would very much like to encourage this scientific process in
which the governments themselves made a commitment."
Rajoelina
defended his tonic during a coronavirus screening campaign in Madagascar's
eastern city of Toamasina on Thursday.
"The
WHO has indicated that artemisia could lead to a cure for coronavirus,"
the president said, promising to submit the drink to clinical trials.
Scepticism remains
Earlier
this week, the WHO recognised artemisia as a "possible treatment" for
COVID-19. But the organisation also repeated its calls for more rigorous
testing.
South
Africa's Health Minister Zweli Mkhize on Wednesday said Madagascar had reached
out for "help" with scientific research.
"Our
scientists would be able to assist with this research," Mkhize tweeted,
adding that South Africa would only "get involved in a scientific analysis
of the herb".
The country
has the highest number of coronavirus cases in sub-Saharan Africa, with 7,808
infections and 153 fatalities recorded to date.
Neighbouring
eSwatini -- a tiny landlocked nation wedged between South Africa and Mozambique
-- said it would not consider Rajoelina's tonic for the time being.
"It is
important as a country to first ascertain where such herbal products have been
tested," she said Health Minister Lizzie Nkosi on Thursday.
"We
have to do adequate proper research and be sure that the product works."
To date
eSwatini has reported 123 cases of coronavirus, including two deaths.
Meanwhile,
the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has debunked claims that
it had ordered a package of Covid-Organics from a "third country".
"We
are aware that several claims of a COVID-19 cure have been made in different
parts of the world," ECOWAS said in a statement on Wednesday.
"But
we can only support and endorse products that have been shown to be effective
through scientific study."
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