Government has stated, emphatically, that it has never requested Madagascar to supply Ghana with Covid-Organics, the supposed cure for the deadly coronavirus.
Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah in setting the record straight, contrary to media reports, also maintained that Ghana has not received any consignment of that medicine from Madagascar.
The president of Madagascar last month launched Covid-Organics, a tonic produced from the artemisia plant – the source of an ingredient used in a malaria treatment – and other Malagasy plants, which he claimed has the potency to prevent and cure coronavirus.
Though the WHO has warned against the use of the untested drug, some African countries have ordered and received the drugs which they have started administering to their citizens.
There were media reports that Ghana has followed suit, requested and received the medicine and it is undergoing testing for its efficacy.
The reports follow a series of tweets by the official handle of the Information Ministry on May 19.
“We have received the Madagascar cure for Covid19 and we are testing it for efficacy –
@konkrumah #AskTheInfoMinistry #Covid19,” the ministry tweeted.
To clarify, this is exact words of Minister “We are considering it. We have reached out to them. We have asked that it be made available to us & like all drugs, it will be tested by FDA & in this case by Center for Plant Medicine & if proven efficacious, we can recommend it use”
— Ministry of Information (@moigovgh) May 19, 2020
But in what appears to be a sharp retreat, the sector minister during the regular press briefing on Covid-19, Thursday, May 21, 2020, denies ordering for the medicine.
“We have not received the supposed cure from Madagascar,” Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said about the “misreport”, and explained, “what we have said is that Madagascar has reached out to us with their supposedly or suggested cure, and that we will test it through FDA and Centre for Plant Medicine before making a decision.”
The Minister reiterated, “So please let’s be clear we have not requested for it neither have we received any.”
He also noted that some herbal medicine producers have submitted products which they believe are potent for the cure of Covid-19, which he said would be subjected to the same testing regime before a decision would be taken.
Ghana has since March 12 recorded 6,269 of confirmed cases, 31 deaths and 1,898 recoveries leaving the active cases at 4,340 as at May 20.
By Isaac Essel | 3news.com