The African Union has opened discussions with Madagascar aimed at exploring the safety and efficiency of a herbal remedy purported to cure COVID-19.

After conducting internal tests on the herbal remedy, Madagascar launched CovidOrganics to the market to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

The product has been championed by President Andry Rajoelina, who has held talks with various other African leaders in Africa to take up the remedy to aid their fight against the disease.

Countries that have expressed a willingness to acquire the drug include Comoros, the Republic of Congo and Guinea Bissau.

Now, the African Union says it will look into CovidOrganics after Rajoelina presented the medicine to other leaders from Africa in a teleconference Meeting on April 29.

“Once furnished with the details, the Union, through the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), will review the scientific data gathered so far on the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 Organics. This review will be based on global technical and ethical norms to garner the necessary scientific evidence regarding the performance of the tonic,” the African Union said.

52 countries in Africa have reported cases of COVID-19, with a tally exceeding 47,000. COVID-19 related deaths in the continent are more than 1,800.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has however warned against use of medicines that have not been approved for COVID-19 treatment.

“We must follow the evidence. There are no shortcuts,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom said a statement in March.