President George Weah received samples of the Covid-Organics, an herbal solution developed in Madagascar believed can prevent and cure the coronavirus at the Roberts International Airport, in Harbel, Margibi County on Monday.
The herbal remedy, delivered by an official of Guinea Bissau, was brought in the country based upon the request of President Weah to his Guinea Bissua counterpart President Umaro Sissoco Embaló, days ago, as that country put in an order for its own supply of the anti-coronavirus treatment.
If found to be workable here, the Liberian government will then be able to put in for its own supplies, according Deputy Press Secretary Smith Toby. The current samples includes two boxes for prevention and one box for treatment.
The Covid-Organics was developed by a Congolese Doctor, Dr. Jerome Munyagi in partnership with the Malagasy Institute of Applied Research and branded COVID Organics, according to the BBC. The herbal solution contains Artemisia, a plant cultivated in Madagascar to treat malaria.
The treatment sample arrived in the country at the time Liberia has confirmed 166 coronavirus cases with 18 deaths and 58 recoveries.Madagascar, which developed the herbal remedy has recorded 133 cases with 97 recoveries and zero death.
The delivery
The herbal remedy was brought on a chattered flight on Monday. According to the Bissua’s official who presented the herbal solution, since the application of the herbs in Madagascar there have been no death so far from the virus.
Receiving the drugs on behalf of the Government of Liberia, President George Manneh Weah extended special thanks to his Guinea Bissau counterpart and praised Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina for their efforts in the discoveries.
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Speaking to journalists at the ceremony, Minister of State for Presidential Affairs Nathaniel McGill says the drugs have proven to be the solution to this corona situation.
“We are grateful to the government of Madagascar for coming to our aid. We will apply this drugs on some of our people that are affected, “he says.
When asked whether the drugs were approved by the World Health Organization, Mr. McGill replies that the WHO does not need to approve a country’s herbs before it can be taken.
“We that came from the interior, we drink our bitter roots and WHO don’t have to approve those roots before we [take] them,” McGill continues.
McGill argues further that WHO doesn’t approve of the anti – malaria drugs that traditional people take to clear malaria from their body.
Risking the Madagascar herbal solution
The Madagascar herbal remedy is being distributed around the continent at the time the World Health Organization (WHO) says it did not recommend self-medication with any medicines… as a prevention or cure for Covid-19. A lot of African leaders are however welcoming delivery of the Madagascar – donated drug to help in their fight against the virus.
The World Health Organization says there are currently no vaccines or medicines to prevent, treat or cure Covid-19.“Possible vaccines and some specific drug treatments are currently under investigation. They are being tested through clinical trials,” it says.
Artemisia, the plant which the Covid-Organics is made of is used in traditional medicines. In 2012 the World Health Organization said remedies containing the dry leaves of the artemisia plant could be used in combination therapy “with an effective antimalarial medicine” to treat “uncomplicated malaria”.
The plant is also cultivated in Cameroon, Kenya,Ethiopia, South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia – all in high-altitude regions and/or regions with a pronounced cool period.
But Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina insists “All trials and tests have been conducted and its effectiveness in reducing the elimination of symptoms has been proven for the treatment of patients with COVID-19 in Madagascar.”
By Lewis S. Teh, with additional files from Othello B. Garblah