As the world searches for a potential treatment for COVID-19, the World Health Organization (WHO) said it supports traditional herbal products, if they are scientifically proven.
WHO said medicinal plants like Artemisia annua are being considered for treating Covid-19. The health organization, however, noted that the plant and others will have to be subjected to scientific verification.
According to Science Direct, a leading source for scientific, technical, and medical research, Artemisia annua is a medicinal plant whose use has long been reported in China. It is now grown commercially in many African countries.
According to WHO, “Medicinal plants such as Artemisia annua are being considered as possible treatments for COVID-19 and should be tested for efficacy and adverse side effects. Africans deserve to use medicines tested to the same standards as people in the rest of the world.”
The agency, however, reiterated that it is critical that any traditional medicine developed to treat the infectious disease must also have its efficacy and safety established ” through rigorous clinical trials”.
WHO said it is working “with research institutions to select traditional medicine products which can be investigated for clinical efficacy and safety for COVID-19 treatment.”
The organization also said it will continue to offer support for countries as they explore traditional medicine which can work in preventing or controlling the spread of the disease.
It noted that it has supported efforts in the past which have led to the development of herbal drugs which have met international and national requirements for registration and are being used in treating patients with malaria, diabetes, sickle cell disease, and hypertension, among others.
It would be recalled that a prominent Nigerian monarch, Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, said that traditional cure for coronavirus would be ready soon.
The respected monarch said he has been collaborating with traditional medicine practitioners in the bid to provide a cure on time. He, therefore, advised the federal government not to throw away traditional medicines even as they continue to look for scientific solutions.
Madagascar’s president, Andry Rajoelina, also recently celebrated and promoted a herbal tonic named COVID-Organics. He claimed the herbal product cures Covid-19.
Madagascar has 151 coronavirus cases, and 98 out of that number have recovered, leaving 53 active cases. No death has been recorded in the country.
This made many to believe in the efficacy of the herbal product.
Even some African countries such as Tanzania and Guinea-Bissau have made plans to import the said herb”.
