Madagascan president Andry Rajoelina has announced that clinical trials will start today (May 4) with COVID-Organics. A factory will also be built within a month to boost its production.
The president disclosed the developments during a national address on Sunday during which he extended the state of health emergency in the southern African island nation by 15 days.
According to him, the trials were in partnership with foreign researchers. “A pharmaceutical factory will be set up within a month to increase the production capacity of CovidOrganics. It will be administered in other forms such as injections,” Rajoelina posted on Twitter.
The antiviral properties of Artemisia – the anti-malarial plant at the base of COVID-Organics and its role in building immune capacity have been proven, he added without giving details.
“Thanks to this discovery, international researchers and doctors have proposed the construction of the largest cancer center in Africa in Madagascar,” the president disclosed.
The herbal tea / concoction continues to sharply divide opinion among those that say it needs more attention and others who are dismissing as an unproven ‘solution’ to a malady the world is still grappling to get a grip on.
The profile of the drug has been boosted after about half dozen African leaders publicly endorsed it and requested for consignments. The Malagasy government has so far been distributing it for free in the country and all shipped consignments are for free.
Presidents of Tanzania, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Comoros, DR Congo, Senegal and the Republic of Congo have congratulated Madagascar for their bold step in combating the rampaging global virus.