The launch of Covid-Organics (CVO) in Madagascar has raised many questions. But to many on the continent, is a huge step in respect to African research and belief in African innovation.
Faced with the promises of chloroquine and the use of artemisia in China against the coronavirus, the Malagasy Institute of Applied Research (IMRA) and the National Pharmacology Research Center joined forces to set up a research protocol on a plant already known for its virtues against malaria.
This is yet another discovery for this research center, which has some fifty remedies to its credit, developed by combining traditional and modern medicine, including the antidiabetic drug Madeglucyl and the cough supressant Madetoxin.
The center is nationally and internationally renowned and has been granted the status of regional research center by the African Union.
Located in Antananarivo, composed of a team of about a hundred people, including some thirty researchers and technicians, its research focuses on phytochemistry, parasitic and cellular pharmacology, experimental diabetology, pharmacodynamics, toxicology and the analytical chemistry of essential oils.
The development of Covid-Organics is a perfect illustration of the credo of Professor Albert Rakoto Ratsimamanga, whose research focused on the combination of traditional and modern medicine. For nature and man are one.”
Aware of the exceptional nature of the indigenous flora, of which he knew better than anyone else its potential benefits and traditional medicine cures, he also knew its limits, especially when faced with the risk of infection.
