Covid-Organics (CVO) is an ''

Artemisia Artemisia may refer to: People * Artemisia I of Caria (fl. 480 BC), queen of Halicarnassus under the First Persian Empire, naval commander during the second Persian invasion of Greece * Artemisia II of Caria (died 350 BC), queen of Caria under th ...

''-based drink that

Andry Rajoelina Andry Nirina Rajoelina (Malagasy: ; born 30 May 1974) is a Malagasy politician and businessman who has been the president of Madagascar since 2019. He was previously president of a High Transitional Authority, provisional government from 2009 t ...

, president of

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

, claims can prevent and cure Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The drink is produced from a species under the ''Artemisia'' genus from which

artemisinin Artemisinin () and its semisynthetic derivatives are a group of drugs used in the treatment of malaria due to '' Plasmodium falciparum''. It was discovered in 1972 by Tu Youyou, who shared the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her ...

is extracted for

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

treatment. No publicly available clinical trial data supports the safety or efficacy of this drink. Covid-Organics was developed and produced in Madagascar by the Malagasy Institute of Applied Research. Madagascar was the first country to decide to integrate ''Artemisia'' into COVID-19 treatment when the

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

Maison de l'Artemisia France contacted numerous African countries during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. At least one researcher from another part of Africa, Dr. Jérôme Munyangi of the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

, contributed. Some of the research on ''Artemisia'', led by African scientists, had been carried out in France and Canada. On 20 April 2020, Rajoelina announced in a television broadcast that his country had found "preventive and curative" cure for COVID-19. Rajoelina publicly sipped from a bottle of Covid-Organics and ordered a nation-wide distribution to families. In 2022, Covid-Organics is not recommended by the

WHO Who or WHO may refer to: * Who (pronoun), an interrogative or relative pronoun * Who?, one of the Five Ws in journalism * World Health Organization Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Who, a creature in the Dr. Seuss book '' Horton He ...

World Health Organization

On 20 May 2020, Rajoelina announced on his Twitter account that the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of ...

(WHO) will sign a

confidentiality agreement A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) is a legal contract or part of a contract between at least two parties that outlines confidential material, knowledge, or information that the parties wish to share with one another for certain purposes, but wish ...

with Madagascar regarding the formulation of CVO in order to perform clinical observation. On 21 May 2020, WHO director general

Tedros Adhanom Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus ( ti, ቴዎድሮስ አድሓኖም ገብረኢየሱስ, sometimes spelt ti, ቴድሮስ ኣድሓኖም ገብረየሱስ, label=none; born 3 March 1965) is an Ethiopian public health official, researcher, and ...

confirmed his video conference with Rajoelina, and that the WHO will cooperate with Madagascar on research and development of COVID-19 therapy. The WHO does not recommend the use of non-pharmaceutical Artemisia plant matter. The official position of WHO is that it "supports scientifically-proven traditional medicine" and "recognizes that traditional, complementary and alternative medicine has many advantages".

Controversy

A wide range of scientific criticism followed the launch of Covid-Organics from within and outside Africa. Before cooperating with Madagascar, the

(WHO) issued a warning against use of an untested COVID-19 remedy and said Africans deserve medicine that went through proper scientific trials. At the time, Covid-Organics efficacy and safety was tested on fewer than 20 people within a period of three weeks. In order to meet established scientific standards, the two parties later agreed on a partnership for Covid-Organics to be registered for WHO's Solidarity trials, an international program for fast tracking clinical trials on COVID-19 treatment candidates. The African Union (AU) demanded detailed scientific data on Covid-Organics for analysis by Africa CDC after it had been briefed by Madagascar authorities about the herbal remedy. Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention expressed its interest in data for Covid-Organics for the purpose of quickly scaling up an effective and safe remedy. In April, the

Economic Community of West African States The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS; also known as in French and Portuguese) is a regional political and economic union of fifteen countries located in West Africa. Collectively, these countries comprise an area of , and in ...

(ECOWAS) denied ordering a package of CVO after media reports that it had ordered for CVO and said the West Africa Health Organization (WAHO) would only endorse products shown to be effective and safe for use through well-known scientific procedure. As concerns about the safety of CVO grow, South Africa offered to help Madagascar conduct a

clinical trial Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel vaccines, drugs, diet ...

on the herbal tonic. There are concerns over widespread usage of ''Artemisia'' accelerating drug resistance toward

ACTs The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its message ...

for

treatment.

Patronage

More than 19 African and Caribbean countries have taken delivery of CVO as of May 2020 to combat COVID-19. On 20 May,

Ghanaian government The Government of Ghana was created as a parliamentary democracy, followed by alternating military and civilian governments in Ghana. In January 1993, military government gave way to the Fourth Republic after presidential and parliamentary electi ...

finally placed an order for CVO for testing after weeks of pressure from Ghanaians that the herbal remedy be used to halt the spread of Coronavirus. At the end of April, Equatorial Guinea, among the first to express support for the remedy, sent a special envoy to Madagascar for a donated shipment of CVO. Madagascar sent quantities of the product to at least 10 African countries in 2020.

Covid-organics Plus

On 2 October 2020, President

inaugurated a medical factory named "Pharmalagasy" and officially started to produce CVO pills named "CVO-plus". On 5 July 2021, WHO issued a statement announcing the completion of phase 3 clinical trials of the CVO+ dry capsule at the National Center for the Application of Pharmaceutical Research (CNARP) of Madagascar, indicating that the results will be reviewed by the Regional Expert Advisory Committee formed in partnership with Africa CDC. The committee will advise the manufacturer on the next steps to take. Phase III trials were published in January 2023 on CVO+ resulted in a signicantly higher rate of treatment success and that it was effective for the treatment of mild-to-moderate forms of COVID-19.Efficacy and safety of CVO PLUS CURATIF capsules, Malagasy improved traditional medication for treating COVID-19 a randomized trials
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References

External links