Tanzania to import coronavirus 'herbal cure'
The president of Tanzania, John Magufuli, is sending a plane to Madagascar to fetch a herbal tonic touted as an end to Covid-19 even while the World Health Organization (WHO) warned there was no proof any cure.
Congo-Brazzaville's president in addition has promised to import the drink.
It is created from the artemisia plant - the foundation of an ingredient found in a malaria treatment.
The WHO also advised people against self-medicating.
The drink was launched as Covid-Organics and had been marketed after being tested on less than 20 people over an interval of three weeks, the Tanzanian president's chief of staff Lova Hasinirina Ranoromaro told the BBC.
In response to the launch of Covid-Organics, the WHO said in a statement delivered to the BBC that the global organisation didn't recommend "self-medication with any medicines... as a prevention or cure for Covid-19".
It reiterated earlier comments by WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus that there have been "no short-cuts" to locating effective mediation to fight coronarvirus.
International trials were under way to find an efficient treatment, the WHO added.
In March, the US-based National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health warned against purported coronavirus remedies, including herbal therapies and teas - saying the easiest way to prevent infection was in order to avoid contact with the virus.
The drink has been picked up in other African countries.
On Saturday Madagascar delivered a shipment to Guinea-Bissau.
The Malagasy president also tweeted that the special envoy to Equatorial Guinea found a shipment of the drink.
Speaking on TV, President Magufuli said he had been in contact with the federal government of Madagascar and would despatch an aircraft to the island nation to accumulate the medicine.
"I am communicating with Madagascar, plus they have already written a letter saying they have found out some medicine. We will despatch a flight to bring the medicine to ensure that Tanzanians may also benefit. So as the federal government we are working night and day," he said.
Mr Magufuli has already been widely criticised for his a reaction to the coronavirus pandemic.
He has encouraged the general public to keep gathering in places of worship, while a lot of the world has faced lockdown.
Tanzania's delay in enforcing stricter measures to avoid further spread of coronavirus in the united states could have resulted in the spike in positive cases, according to the WHO.
The country has 480 confirmed cases of coronavirus but Mr Magufuli said that number could be exaggerated and that he doubted the credibility of the national laboratory.
He said that he previously secretly had some animals and fruits tested at the laboratory and that a papaya (paw-paw), a quail and a goat returned positive samples.
"That means there is probability for technical errors or these imported reagents have issues," he said, without giving more detail.
