Madagascar Health officials and their Nigerian counterparts
FEDERAL government in an explanation for rejecting Madagascar’s CVO herbal remedy alleged to be effective in the treatment of Coronavirus in the country said that it cannot put citizens’ lives at risk when there is no detailed analysis of the formation of the claimed remedy.
In a report presented to the Federal Ministry of Health earlier in the week, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) said safety studies show that Covid-Organics (CVO) do not alter the normal physiology of the animals.
Dr. Obi Adigwe, NIPRD’s Director General, said that Madagascar officials were hiding CVO analysis, and added that without making such important details available for verification, no sensible government will take it serious let alone approve for human consumption.
Adigwe said the analysis they presented in the report is more detailed than what they received from Madagascar.
“They are hiding a lot of things and I think it is possible that they know that they don’t have strong science backing up their claim. But our own analysis does not show any proof that it can cure COVID-19.
“CVO reduced cough frequency with the maximum dose tested, producing an effect equivalent to that produced by the centrally acting cough-suppressant, Dihydrocodeine”, he said.
In April, Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina officially launched the CVO — an organic herbal concoction — claiming that it can prevent and cure patients of the novel coronavirus.
Madagascar’s president had urged citizens to protect themselves from the novel coronavirus by drinking CVO.
However, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned against the use of CVO without medical supervision and cautioned against self-medication.
The Indian Ocean island of Madagascar has also donated CVO to several African countries.
Meanwhile, amid the CVO herbal remedy, earlier this month, Madagascar authorities re-imposed a total lockdown in the Analamanga region due to spike in confirmed cases and deaths. It has also opened new Covid-19 treatment centers.