Ghana receives Madagascar COVID-19 medicine for testing
Ghana has received samples of Madagascar’s highly publicised COVID-19 remedy and preventive herbal medicine, known as ‘Covid-Organics’.
The Ministry of Information announced this in a tweet on its official Twitter page.
We have received the Madagascar cure for Covid19 and we are testing it for efficacy – @konkrumah #AskTheInfoMinistry #Covid19
— Ministry of Information (@moigovgh) May 19, 2020
The Ministry made reference to Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah as the source of the information.
It said the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), through the Centre for Plant Medicine, has begun testing the medicine to confirm its efficacy.
The herbal remedy is produced from artemisia, a plant with proven efficacy against malaria.
President of Madagascar, Mr Andry Rajoelina endorsed the medicine as the ‘cure’ for COVID-19 when he launched it last month, thus bringing global spotlight on the herbal mixture.
However, the World Health Organisation (WHO) advised people against using untested remedies for COVID-19 because there is no scientific trial to establish the efficacy and safety of the medicine.
Some African countries such as Tanzania and Guinea-Bissau have also made plans to import the mixture.
Meanwhile, Ghana has recorded 178 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number to 6,096, with 1,773 recoveries and 31 deaths.
Source: GNA