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Madagascar’s Drug is Mainly Anti-Malaria, Says Health Minister
Findings from the analysis of COVID Organics shows that it largely contains anti-malaria components, the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, said on Thursday.
COVID Organics is a herbal mixture developed by the Malagasy Institute of Applied Research. It was reportedly used in treating COVID-19 patients in Madagascar.
President Muhammadu Buhari, on May 16, received some of the herbal remedy from the Madagascar government but said he will await research outcomes before allowing any new medicine be administered on Nigerians.
Since its launch in April, the use of the Malagasy herbal remedy to treat COVID-19 patients has been trailed by a lot of controversy.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) had cautioned countries against adopting a product that has not undergone thorough scientific research.
The health agency advised governments to clinically test the Madagascar herbal drink before using it to treat COVID-19.
Mr Ehanire, while speaking at the bi-weekly briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, said a variety of the herb grows in Nigeria.
“Preliminary results of the analysis of the so-called Madagascar herbs by the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) show that it is the same as the plant Artemisia anua, which is grown in the NIPRD farm. Further research on its efficacy will be conducted when the grants for research is approved.
“The so-called Madagascar herb is one component of the malaria treatment medicine. Some years ago, the government actually imported this plant and has a plantation of it in trying to develop its own production of the artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT). The plantation is still there but the process has not gone that much further.
“We are looking into seeing what has held it up but the plant is here; it was intended for producing anti-malaria, and the type we have here has a very high yield of artemisinin – which is actually the active ingredient,” he said.
The minister, however, said relevant government agencies will continue the process of evaluation to determine its effectiveness in treating COVID-19.
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The first hostages freed from Gaza under a long-awaited ceasefire agreement are back in Israel. The news sparked jubilant scenes in Tel Aviv where large crowds gathered ahead of their release.
The three freed Israeli hostages – the first of 33 to be released over the next six weeks – are Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari. They are said to be in good health and are receiving treatment at a medical center in Tel Aviv.
In exchange, 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees are set to be released by Israel from Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli military withdrew from several locations in southern and northern Gaza after the truce began earlier on Sunday, an Israeli military official told CNN.
Displaced Gazans have started returning to their homes, while the aid trucks laden with much-needed supplies have crossed into Gaza. Here’s what we know about how the ceasefire deal will work.
Hamas, despite suffering devastating losses, is framing the Gaza ceasefire agreement as a victory for itself, and a failure for Israel.
One of Hamas’ main goals for taking some 250 people during its brazen October 7, 2023, attack on Israel was to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. As Israel pounded Gaza in response, Hamas vowed not to return the hostages until Israel withdrew its forces from the enclave, permanently ended the war, and allowed for rebuilding.
Source: CNN
The leader of UK’s Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has said she doesn’t want Britain to be like Nigeria that is plagued by “terrible governments.”
Speaking on Thursday at an event organised by Onward, a British think tank producing research on economic and social issues, Badenoch expressed fears that Britain may become like Nigeria if the system is not reformed.
“And why does this matter so much to me? It’s because I know what it is like to have something and then to lose it,” Badenoch told the audience.
“I don’t want Britain to lose what it has.
“I grew up in a poor country and watched my relatively wealthy family become poorer and poorer, despite working harder and harder as their money disappeared with inflation.
“I came back to the UK aged 16 with my father’s last £100 in the hope of a better life.
“So I have lived with the consequences of terrible governments that destroy lives, and I never, ever want it to happen here.”
Badenoch has been in the news of late after she dissociated herself from Nigeria, saying she has nothing to do with the Islamic northern region.
She also accused the Nigeria Police of robbing citizens instead of protecting them.
She said: “My experience with the Nigeria Police was very negative. Coming to the UK, my experience with the British Police was very positive.
“The police in Nigeria will rob us (laughter). When people say I have this bad experience with the police because I’m black, I say well…I remember the police stole my brother’s shoe and his watch.”
