The Truth behind Madagascar’s Miraculous COVID-19 Cure

The Truth behind Madagascar’s Miraculous COVID-19 Cure
As COVID-19 spread across the globe and leaders put their countries in lockdown, the announcement caught medical experts, who have scrambled to find a cure for the disease that has killed more than 252,000 and infected at least 3.6 million people globally, by surprise. In the race against time to find a cure for COVID-19, Madagascar began very early on a dual therapy protocol based on chloroquine and the antibiotic azithromycin, in association with treatments derived from traditional knowledge that emphasises the use of medicinal plants.With Madagascar’s rich biodiversity and the central role of its traditional practitioners, the decision was made to promote traditional medicine.
Under presidential demands, and faced with the promises of chloroquine and the use of artemisia in China against the coronavirus, the Malagasy Institute of Applied Research (IMRA) and the National Pharmacology Research Centre joined forces to conduct studies and set up a research protocol on this plant already known for its virtues against malaria. This led to the development of Covid-Organics, an improved traditional remedy made up of Artemisia and other endemic medicinal plants, such as Ravintsara.Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina gave a long, televised address last weekend praising the benefits of artemisia, a herbal remedy increasingly promoted as a treatment for Covid-19. It's also gaining traction in other African countries. But the World Health Organization has warned it must be tested for efficacy and adverse side effects.During a one-and-a-half-hour speech on Sunday, Rajoelina sat next to an artemisia plant, a bottle of artemisia tonic and boxes of Covid-Organics, the branded artemisia products that he is promoting as a treatment for the coronavirus. “Clinical trials of artemisia-based injections on new Covid-19 patients will start next week,” said Rajoelina, saying that any criticism of the plant-based remedy must stop, according to RFI’s correspondent in Antananarivo. The president called for people to continue following measures put in place to stop the spread of the virus. But much of Rajoelina’s address focused on artemisia. He talked about increasing production of the plant and setting up a factory to process it over the next month. 
Last month, Malagasy President Andry Rajoelina officially launched the CVO, a herbal mixture, claiming that it can prevent and cure patients suffering from the novel coronavirus. The drug was developed by the Malagasy Institute of Applied Research.But, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned against any self-medication and said it has not recommended any medicine as a cure for COVID-19.In response, the WHO said it supports scientifically-proven traditional medicine.''WHO welcomes every opportunity to collaborate with countries and researchers to develop new therapies and encourages such collaboration for the development of effective and safe therapies for Africa and the world,'' it said in a statement.Rajoelina said on Monday his government was already collaborating with foreign doctors and researchers on the matter, looking for alternative research possibilities but still on the trail of the Artemisia plant -- the main component of CVO."A pharmaceutical factory will be set up within a month to increase the production capacity of Covid Organics. It will be administered in other forms such as injections," Rajoelina said on Twitter.