A wide range of Nigerians have expressed great optimism with regards to the COVID-19 cure claimed to be produced by Madagascar. A sizable number of Nigerians have blamed the government of Nigeria for their delay in exploiting the said cure.
The calls of Nigerians were heard and The Federal Government acquired the COVID-19 cure after research; FG says Madagascar’s COVID-19 drug same as ‘sweet annie’ used for malaria treatment.
‘SWEET ANNIE’ whose real name is Artemisia annua, also known as sweet wormwood, sweet annie, sweet sagewort, annual mugwor is a common type of wormwood native to temperate Asia, but naturalized in many countries including scattered parts of North America.
Artemisia annua is grown by the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRID). Further research into its efficacy will be conducted when the grant is approved, the government added.
At the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 briefing yesterday in Abuja, Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, said the specie of the plant available in the country had a very high concentration of Artemisinin, with very high yield, adding that further research would focus on the efficacy of the plant for treatment of COVID-19.
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Ehanire revealed that all government hospitals in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) would become COVID-19 sample collection sites, so that walk-in cases could have samples taken for testing at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
