Nigerians had almost forgotten about the Madagascan “wonder cure” for the novel coronavirus, “COVID Organics”, that the country’s President, Akndry Nirina Rajoelina, touted, marketed and sent consignments to African leaders, for them to arrest the pandemic on the African continent.
The excitement generated by the African-invented “drug” didn’t last long, at least in Nigeria. When Nigeria’s “share” of the “treatment was delivered to President Muhammadu Buhari by the President of Guinea Bissau, Umaro Sissoco Embaló, Buhari said Nigerians would not use it without verification and endorsement by the relevant institutions.
Buhari’s words: “We have our institutions, systems, and processes in the country. Any such formulations should be sent to them for verification. I will not put it to use without the endorsement of our institutions.”
That’s the last Nigerians heard of the remedy until the Minister of Hearth, Dr Osagie Ehanire, at the July 2, 2020 briefing by the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, announced the initial findings on the drug.
According to Ehanire: “Preliminary results or analysis of the so-called Madagascar herbs or organics done by the Nigerian Institute of Pharmaceutical Research and Development shows that it is the same plant called artemisia annua, which is grown in farms in Abuja. Further research on its efficacy will be conducted when the grant for the research is approved.”
The Ehanire report prompted my imagination, and I decided to go to the website, Worldometer, to find out how Madagascar is faring with COVID-19 in relation to its discovered treatment, COVID Organics.
(Worldometer provides counters and real-time statistics for diverse topics. For COVID-19, it provides live statistics and news tracking the number of confirmed cases, recovered patients, tests, and death toll.)
As reported by Worldometer, Madagascar, as at today, Monday, July 6, 2020, has recorded a total coronavirus cases of 3,250, 33 deaths and recovery 1,135. And as at 19:11 GMT (8:11pm Nigerian time), report for Sunday, July 5 was 309 cases and one death in the country.
As I plotted randomly from the Linear Scale provided by Worldometer, Madagascar, as at March 21, had only 3 cases. By March 29, it’d 39 cases; April 9, 93 cases; April 23 (121); May 6 (158); May 10 (186); May 18 (322); May 22 (448); May 28 (656); June 6 (1,094); June 15 (1,290); June 24 (1,787); June 29 (2,138); July 3 (2,512); and July 5 (2,941 cases).
The 33 deaths occurred between May 16, with one death reported, and yesterday, July 5 (with one death also reported), at an average of 0.72% death per day. For instance, one death per day occurred in 12 different days; 2 deaths in 6 days; and 3 deaths in 3 days, totalling 33 deaths. What do we, Nigerians, make of these figures viz-a-vis the touted efficacy of COVID Organics by Madagascar’s President, Rajeolena? Is the country faring well?
