THE AFRICAN COURIER. Reporting Africa and its Diaspora! The African Courier is an international magazine published in Germany to report on Africa and the Diaspora African experience. The first issue of the bimonthly magazine appeared on the newsstands on 15 February 1998. The African Courier is a communication forum for European-African political, economic and cultural exchanges, and a voice for Africa in Europe.
The head of Nigeria’s agency responsible for the development of drugs and vaccines has described the much-touted herbal tea from Madagascar, COVID-Organics, as not effective in the treatment of the coronavirus infection.
Speaking in an interview with the Nigerian daily newspaper Vanguard, Dr Peter Adigwe, said analysis carried out by his organisation, the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD), on the herbal formulation against the COVID-19 disease did not show evidence of efficacy. Madagascar had claimed that the COVID-Organics cured some people of the disease in the country.
Adigwe, who is the Director-General of the NIPRD, insisted that there was no evidence to the claim that the COVID-Organics could cure COVID-19, following analysis performed on the sample.
Adigwe said: “The Minister gave us the mandate to find out if COVID-Organics can cure COVID-19 and we did not get any evidence that it can.
“This is because our analysis shows there is no evidence that it can cure COVID-19. There is no evidence for that”.
Defending the position of the NIPRD on the issue, he said: “The analysis we gave in our report is more detailed than anything that had come from their country. They are hiding the analysis of their own product. If you go online, you cannot get the level of analysis that we gave.”
COVID-Organics as a cure for the coronavirus disease has been controversial as the World Health Organisation had also said that there was no evidence to prove the claim of the Madagascans. Meanwhile, the WHO and Africa Centres for Disease Control (Africa CDC), have yet to release any findings or developments from their interactions with Malagasy authorities over the purported virus cure.
Developed by Malasy Institute of Applied Research, it is made from Artemisia – an anti-malarial plant that grows on the island.
President of Madagascar Andry Rajoelina, who has donated samples of COVID-Organics to several African countries, criticised those speaking against his country’s purported traditional cure for COVID-19.
In an exclusive interview with French broadcasters, France24 and RFI in June, Rajoelina said his country would continue to administer and develop the cure which according to him accounts for majority of its virus recoveries.
“We have 171 cases, including 105 cured. The patients who were cured took only the COVID-Organics medication,” he confirmed.
Asked about warnings issued by WHO, ECOWAS and Africa CDC, he dismissed them stressing that the warnings are meant to detract and discourage progress of the drug, which Madagascar was not going to allow.
“If it weren’t Madagascar, but a European country that had discovered the remedy COVID-Organics, would there be so many doubts? I do not think so…”
Kola Tella
Read the full interview with Dr Adigwe on the website of Vanguard Newspaper HERE
