Madagascar to build new factory so it can mass-produce the herbal remedy Covid Organics

MADAGASCAR has announced plans build a factory that will mass produce its new coronavirus herbal remedy known as Covid Organics as part of a programme to get it universally accepted as a cure for the pandemic.

Last month, Madagascan scientists came up with Covid Organics, a herbal remedy, which was made from local plants that are also used to cure malaria. According to the country's president Andry Rajoelina, the herbal remedy has been tested and has cured people but the World Health Organisation (WHO) has pointed out that there is no proof of this, so has refused to fund its development.

Covid Organics, which contains artemisa, a plant used in treating malaria, was developed by the Malagasy Institute of Applied Research. As a result of the island's long isolation from neighbouring continents, Madagascar is home to various plants and animals found nowhere else on planet earth.

President Rajoelina said: “A pharmaceutical factory will be set up within a month to increase the production capacity of Covid Organics. It will be administered in other forms such as injections.”

More than 80% of Madagascar's 14,883 plant species are found nowhere else in the world, making it an ideal location where a coronavirus remedy can be come across. President Rajoelina insists the remedy can be used for both cure and prevention and as a result of his optimism, the US ambassador to Madagascar, Michael Pelletier has announced that Washington will fund the development of the drug with £2.5m.

Several African leaders have already agreed to import samples of the remedy to see if it works and it is currently being distributed for free across the island nation. Recognising Covid Organics as a possible cure, the 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.

According to President Rajoelina, the antiviral properties of artemisia, the anti-malarial plant from which Covid Organics is produced and its role in building immune capacity have been proven. He added: “Thanks to this discovery, international researchers and doctors have proposed the construction of the largest cancer centre in Africa.”

However, this 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 to grips with. The profile of the drug has been boosted after about half a dozen African leaders publicly endorsed it and requested for consignments.