WHO Africa warns against use of untested COVID-19 remedies

The World Health Organization - WHO Africa has warned against the use of untested coronavirus remedies.

The warning comes as Madagascar's president is promoting a herbal tonic known as "COVID-Organics" for treating Covid-19 patients.

The African Union (AU) said it wanted to see the scientific data on the "safety and efficacy" of the product.

While WHO supports innovations based on traditional remedies and plants it stated that Africans deserve access to medicines that have gone through proper trials even if they are derived from traditional treatments.

As such, drugs such as COVID-Organics "should be tested for efficacy and adverse side effects," WHO said.

"Africans deserve to use medicines tested to the same standards as people in the rest of the world," it added.

The BBC reports that several African countries, including Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea and Liberia, have already ordered COVID-Organics, which is produced from the artemisia plant - the source of an ingredient used in a malaria treatment - and other Malagasy plants.

WHO's guidelines on clinical trials according to the BBC can be a lengthy process in which a potential drug is tested in four phases, scaling up from a trial on a small number of patients to using it on a population countrywide.

Following that meeting Madagascar's President, Andry Rajoelina, the AU has requested details about COVID-Organics which could be reviewed by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).

As at the time of this report, Madagascar has recorded at least 149 cases of coronavirus and no deaths, with 99 recoveries and 50 active cases, according to Worldometers.

Source: BBC