COVID-19 tonic: What you need to know about the world famous Madagascar magic
In the past two weeks, many Africans have been celebrating the COVID-19 news coming out of Madagascar. The country is one of the 53 African nations with confirmed cases of the deadly virus sweeping across the globe. Lesotho remains the only African country without COVID-19.
While scientists from different parts of the world are in search of a vaccine for the virus, Madagascar said it has developed an herbal tonic it is now celebrating as a cure for COVID-19.
Madagascar launched the tonic last month and since then the country has been recording a relative success over the virus that has infected over 3.7 million people across the world, with 1.2 million recoveries and more than 260,000 death toll. The virus brings confusion and tension across the world and has led to the shutdown of many activities which experts have said may put the world into a global economic recession by the end of 2020.
Madagascar, the world’s fourth largest island with an estimated population of 27.6 million people, gained independence from France on June 26, 1960, about four months before Nigeria also gained independence from the British on October 1, 1960. President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Ahmad Ahmad, hails from Madagascar.
Malagasy President Andry Rajoelina launched the therapy last month and claimed the tonic had passed scientific test and cured two patients of COVID-19.
“Tests have been carried out – two people have now been cured by this treatment. This herbal tea gives results in seven days. Schoolchildren should be given this to drink… little by little throughout the day,” Rajoelina said as he urged people to use it as a preventative measure.
The therapy is now being marketed in a bottle and as an herbal tea after the President launched it in April.
What is the therapy made of?
The therapy branded Covid-Organics was developed by the Malagasy Institute of Applied Research (IMRA). Its chief ingredient is reported to be sweet wormwood (Artemisia annua), a plant of Asian origin that gave rise to the antimalarial drug artemisinin.
Kevin Marsh of the University of Oxford says artemisinin is the major ingredient of the artemisinin-based combination therapies, which have helped bring down malaria deaths from more than 1 million to about 400,000 every year.
To prevent resistance taking hold, most artemisinin-based malaria treatments include a second antimalarial drug, so that if the parasite develops resistance to artemisinin, the other drug will still kill it.
Studies published in Life Science revealed that artemisinin was used in Chinese medicine and it can kill 98 per cent of lung cancer cells in less than 16 hours. One of the symptoms of COVID-19 is cough associated with difficulty in breathing or shortness of breath.
According to Guardian, the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo set up the Nigerian Medicinal Plant Company, formerly known as Artemisinin Development Company with the mandate to look into local cultivation, processing and production of anti-malaria medicines, based on the Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy (ACT) endorsed by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Concerns from WHO, AU and the rest of the world:
The World Health Organization (WHO) in a statement welcomed innovations based on traditional remedies and plants but said they “should be tested for efficacy and adverse side effects”.
“Africans deserve to use medicines tested to the same standards as people in the rest of the world,” WHO added.
The African Union has said it is in discussion with Madagascar to obtain technical data regarding the safety and efficiency of the therapy.
“Once furnished with the details, the Union, through the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), will review the scientific data gathered so far on the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 Organics. This review will be based on global technical and ethical norms to garner the necessary scientific evidence regarding the performance of the tonic,” AU said.
Africans embracing COVID-organics:
Despite calls for caution from the WHO, many Nigerians and other Africans have taken to Twitter to show interest in the tonic and called on their government to give it a trial. Their confidence in the tonic is not unjustified. Madagascar presently has 158 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and has not recorded any death. The country has 64 per cent recovery rate.
Several African countries have also indicated interest to place orders for the Madagascar-made COVID-19 tonic, as long as the figures from Madagascar proves it works, they are ready to give it a trial without WHO’s certification.
“We will send a plane to bring the drugs so that Tanzanians can also benefit,” Tanzanian President John Magufuli said earlier this week.
A tweet by Congo government’s spokesperson also revealed that President Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo also plans to “adopt” the tonic.
Congo’s Minister of State and director of cabinet at the presidency, Florent Ntsiba, has confirmed receipt of the therapy from a delegation that flew to the Malagasy capital to import the consignment.
Part of the consignment was also to be sent to neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, while Guinea-Bissau is also reportedly interested in the therapy.
The Madagascar therapy comes amid increasing distrust of testing kits and other recommendations from western countries and China. Some Africans are doubting the sincerity of China and other countries offering to help the continent fight COVID-19, their distrust was further justified by the recent event in Tanzania when the President secretly sent samples from sheep and pawpaw for COVID-19 test and they all came out positive.
This is increasing calls from Africans on their governments to look inward and combat the crisis with local herbs.
