As their high
school reopened after being closed for a month due to the coronavirus, students
in Madagascar’s capital city were given face masks and a small bottle of an
herbal extract they were told to drink to protect them from COVID-19.
 |
| Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina promoted the drink, Covid Organics, on national television saying it will “change the course of history.” |
Many
grimacing at its bitter taste, the students swallowed the drink and entered
school to resume classes, where they were now seated one to a desk instead of
two, for safer distance.
Madagascar’s
President Andry Rajoelina promoted the drink, Covid Organics, on national
television saying it will “change the course of history.”
There
are no approved drugs for COVID-19 and numerous treatments and vaccines are
currently being tested around the world.
Madagascar, an
Indian Ocean island nation of 26 million people, currently has 128 recorded
cases of Covid-19 and no deaths.
The
herbal drink has not been scientifically tested and there’s no proof it works
against COVID-19. But the president is enthusiastically promoting it.
“What
we want to do today is to popularize this drink to protect our population,”
said Rajoelina on television and then drank a bottle of the concoction.
The drink is
being distributed for free in some schools that are reopening and in poor
neighborhoods. Elsewhere it is being sold for about 30 cents for an 11-ounce
bottle.
The drink
was developed by the Malagasy Institute of Applied Research, a private
organization that for more than 30 years has researched the uses of
Madagascar’s traditional medicines. The label on the bottle does not list the
ingredients but the president said it is made from artemisia, a bitterroot that
is used in some malaria drugs.
Medical
experts are critical of the drink, pointing out that no scientific tests have
been done on it.
“The
scientific evidence that this is effective has not been proved. It’s likely
that it could actually harm the health of the population, particularly that of
children,” said the president of Madagascar’s Academy of Medicine, Marcel
Razanamparany, in a statement.
With no
approved drugs for COVID-19, some people around the world are resorting to
unproven therapies, sometimes with the backing of government leaders. Rigorous
testing of herbal and other traditional remedies is needed, say experts.
The U.S.
National Institutes of Health has warned against alternative medicine —
including certain herbal therapies and teas — for treating or preventing
COVID-19, saying there was no evidence they work and some may be unsafe.
“It’s the
responsibility of those who make a herbal drink to show the scientific evidence
that their claims are valid,” said Dr. Stephen Barrett, a retired psychiatrist
who runs Quackwatch, a website about unproven medical therapies.
“This is a
worldwide problem, with untested products being promoted as cures,” he said.
“The money spent producing this might be better spent in Madagascar vaccinating
children against measles and other childhood diseases.”
Madagascar
is currently battling an outbreak of measles, which last year killed nearly
1,000 children.
In
Madagascar, the herbal drink was developed in recent weeks and will also be
sold in larger 1-liter bottles for the equivalent of 80 cents and as tea bags
for $2.60 for a box of 14.
In front of
the Ampefiloha high school, in the center of the capital Antananarivo, hundreds
of students in their final year, took the drink in order to return to class.
“I was a
little afraid of this remedy at the beginning but I saw a program on television
where the president of the republic drank it so I am no longer worried,” said
Hugo Ramiakatrarivo.
“They say it
boosts immunity, but I don’t know if it will work. My parents told me not to
take this medicine. They even told me not to go to school today because the
epidemic is not over and especially not to drink this medicine. They are really
scared. But I decided to come to study because we have our exam at the end of
the year.”
Classes were
suspended on March 23 by the Malagasy authorities after the announcement of the
first cases of COVID-19 in the country.
The school’s
principal, Mamisoa Randrianjafy, reassured skeptical students.
“It is an
herbal tea as we are used to taking,” he explained, saying it is like many
other herbal remedies popular in Madagascar. He said that if students refuse
the drink, they would not be permitted to attend classes.
The
secretary general of the Ministry of National Education, Herimanana
Razafimahefa said the drink will be given to all students in the capital and
two other cities where COVID-19 has been confirmed.
At the
Ampefiloha high school, Déborah Andrianary, 19, took a few sips of the drink.
“It’s bitter
and a little sweet at the same time, so it made me want to throw up,” she said.
“I’m not afraid to drink it because I’m used to herbal teas, but the taste is
really weird. I don’t know if I’m going to finish this bottle.” - NewsDay
No comments:
Post a Comment