Is the WHO encouraging trials of an African herbal remedy as a potential treatment for COVID-19?
The World Health Organization has endorsed clinical trials to evaluate the efficacy of artemisia, a plant promoted in Africa as a treatment for COVID-19.
China has long integrated natural herbs into standard treatment protocols—both traditional Chinese remedies (using licorice and ginseng root) and western medicines are part of its official treatment plan for COVID-19. Outside China, there have been few efforts to apply the same rigorous vetting of traditional remedies that regulators demand for new lab-developed medicines.
In Africa, authorities were initially skeptical of claims early in the pandemic by Madagascar's president about the benefits of an herbal drink derived from artemisia annua. A byproduct of the plant, known as sweet wormwood among other names, is used to treat malaria. The University of Kentucky is also conducting research into the plant.
