This archive report was first published on 5 May 2020.
As the world grapples with the Covid-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) is taking a proactive approach to exploring traditional medicine as a potential treatment option. In a recent statement, the organization revealed that it has been working with research institutions to select traditional medicine products that can be investigated for clinical efficacy and safety for Covid-19 treatment.
According to WHO, over the past two decades, they have been working with countries to ensure safe and effective traditional medicine development in Africa by providing financial resources and technical support. This effort has led to the issuance of marketing authorization for 89 traditional medicine products in 14 countries, which have met international and national requirements for registration.
Of these, 43 have been included in National Essential Medicines lists and are now part of the arsenal to treat patients with a wide range of diseases, including malaria, opportunistic infections related to HIV, diabetes, sickle cell disease, and hypertension.
However, WHO has cautioned against misinformation on social media about the effectiveness of certain remedies. The organization emphasized that many plants and substances are being proposed without the minimum requirements and evidence of quality, safety, and efficacy, which can put people in danger and distract them from handwashing and physical distancing, which are cardinal in Covid-19 prevention.
WHO has welcomed innovations around the world, including repurposing drugs, traditional medicines, and developing new therapies in the search for potential treatments for Covid-19. The organization has also highlighted the importance of establishing the efficacy and safety of traditional medicine through rigorous clinical trials.
As WHO notes, Africans deserve to use medicines tested to the same standards as people in the rest of the world, even if therapies are derived from traditional practice and natural. This is in line with the resolution adopted by African governments in 2000, urging Member States to produce evidence on the safety, efficacy, and quality of traditional medicine.
