By Bisola Adeyemo
The World Health Organization (WHO) in its latest research revealed that Artesunate, a malaria drug can be tested for the capacity to treat Covid-19 patients in hospitals.
The WHO on Wednesday said it is one of the derivatives of artemisinin, extracted from the artemisia annual plant, the main herb behind Madagascar’s purported Covid-19 herbal cure announced last year.
Artesunate will be part of a global trial together with imatinib, a drug used for certain cancers, and infliximab used for diseases of the immune system.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general said “These drugs were chosen by an independent panel of experts that evaluates all the available evidence on all potential therapeutics.”
According to news24, the inclusion of the drug is not an indication that it is effective in treating Covid-19.
Previously, four drugs were evaluated and the results showed all of them – remdesivir, hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir and interferon – had little or no effect on hospitalized patients with Covid.