Madagascar got the world to sit up when on April 20, 2020, its president Andry Rajoelina (left) took a sip of a homegrown beverage and declared the herbal tonic could prevent coronavirus and cure it.
It was given the name Covid-Organics and it is derived from artemisia, also known as sweet wormwood (Scientific name: Artemisia annua) – a plant with proven anti-malarial properties – and other indigenous herbs.
The beverage's distribution across the country and to some other African governments (Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Niger and Tanzania) sparked controversy and warnings by the WHO who said its efficacy against the pathogen was unproven.
Still, he stuck to his guns.
"What is the problem with Covid-Organics, really? Could it be that this product comes from Africa? Could it be that it's not OK for a country like Madagascar, which is the 63rd poorest country in the world... to have come up with (this formula) that can help save the world?" asked Rajoelina, who claimed the infusion cures patients within ten days.
He had confidently asserted: "The patients who have healed have taken no other product than Covid-Organics".
His trust in the cure was cruelly pulverized when yesterday, his government had to re-impose a lockdown in central Madagascar. Troops were even deployed to ensure residents comply with containment measures, including a curfew in Antananarivo.
This came after the island nation recorded 213 new cases in the capital city on Saturday. And another 309 infections revealed themselves on Sunday.
So now, we know for sure that Covid-Organics doesn’t work.
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