Media use the death of Tanzania's president to reinforce Covid approach
NOTE: This update was posted March 20, 2021, to an earlier article about the stance of Tanzania and Madagascar in their approach to Covid-19. That article came out on Feb. 10, 2021.
Remember this guy? He famously sent various items to be tested for Covid-19, and the paw-paw fruit and goat came back positive. Now, he has died from what his government says was heart and respiratory disease.
Like many big stories these days, the death of President John Magufuli of Tanzania was presented by leading U.S. media as a sort of cautionary tale about what happens to people who disagree about lockdowns or even the prevalance of Covid itself. The label “Covid skeptic” has been born, and it is applied to nearly everyone who disagrees with the prevalent Covid response. We tend to forget that thousands of medical and public health scientists have spoken out against the mandatory measures taken by the majority of the nations on the planet.
We aim to look beyond these black-and-white, snap judgments. In this article we explore Magafuli’s death in context.
On March 17, the vice president of Tanzania, Samia Suluhu Hassan, announced on the government broadcasting channel that President John Magufuli had died.
According to the Kenyan newspaper Nation, Magufuli had not been seen in public since February 27. The same newspaper said he was flown to Kenya on March 9 and placed on a ventilator. He was never revived, and sent back to Tanzania to die. (But Al Jazeera claims he was flown to India from Kenya.)
Government sources said he died from heart and respiratory disease, but did not mention Covid-19 as the cause. The leader of the opposition party has been tweeting that the late president had indeed died of Covid-19.
MISSING CONTEXT: In the original version of this article, we noted that the deaths from Covid-19 in Tanzania stood at a grand total of 21. Upon digging further, we discovered that Tanzania stopped publishing Covid statistics on April 29, 2020.
In an academic paper comparing Tanzania and Ghana, UK-based scientists Leah H. Mwainyekule and Frances B. Frimpong discussed Tanzania’s Covid-19 approach. They stated that it was unclear how many actual deaths there were in Tanzania due to Covid. They added the country’s economy is thriving and there is no longer fear and panic such as they experienced when the first cases were announced. Ghana, on the other hand, completely shut down their economy, which is suffering a depression, they reported.
Leading Western media reporting on Magafuli’s death included an ironic dig at the man, a former industrial chemist, who refused to lock down and said “no thanks” to the vaccine.
“Initially a chemistry teacher and later industrial chemist, President Magufuli’s political career saw him turn into a science sceptic,” the Nairobi-based Nation reported.
It’s interesting that to a more West-connected country like Kenya, refusing to lock down is considered to be anti-science. So even if Tanzania’s leader had once been a chemistry teacher, he is discredited in the eyes of the West. We don’t know exactly what is happening on the ground, but we do know that Tanzania is fully opened up, with sporting and other events.
Bloomberg reported in February that the hospitals were being overrum in Tanzania by Covid patients, something the country’s health minister denied. The article stated:
“The government’s unconventional stance toward the pandemic led the World Health Organization to caution that it is in breach of its obligations to combat the spread of the disease and supply data about its prevalence. A failure to reverse course could leave the nation of 60 million people contending with an unmitigated public health disaster and facing international isolation and pariah status.”
OPINION:
If the reports of crowded Tanzania hospitals and a rise in funerals are in any way like those in California, then perhaps some more digging would be necessary.
Either way, at this point we can merely conclude that in addition to heart disease, President Magufuli died of pneumonia, influenza, or Covid, which the CDC groups together when testing has not been performed. Most people are unaware that not all Covid-involved deaths in the United States are determined from laboratory tests — for a variety of reasons. Each state (and hospital) varies in budget and authorization, so the CDC groups these uncertain deaths together under PIC: pneumonia-like, influenza-like and Covid-like.
For the week ending March 13, 2021 since the start of the pandemic, the CDC labeled more total deaths as due to pneumonia, influenza OR Covid-19 (725,000+) than total number of Covid-related deaths (520,000+).
It takes a while to digest that information because it’s not definitive information. There’s uncertainty baked in. Uncertainty is a common theme these days. When it’s minimized or hidden, we get draconian edicts to “follow the science.” Those who disagree are marginalized as “conspiracy theorists.”
Original article from February 10:
AFRICA OFFERED AN HERBAL COVID CURE TO THE WORLD, AND THE WORLD SAID ‘NO THANKS’
“If the white man was able to come up with vaccinations, he should have found a vaccination for AIDS by now; he would have found a vaccination of tuberculosis by now; he would have found a vaccination for malaria by now; he would have found a vaccination for cancer by now.
The Health ministry must know that not every vaccination is meaningful to our nation. Tanzanians must be mindful so that we are not used for trials of some doubtful vaccinations which can have serious repercussions on our health.”
A viral Facebook post claiming Madagascar has left the World Health Organization is entering a second wave of transmission in February 2021 after going viral the first time in May 2020. The post also includes an accusation of a ‘20 million-dollar’ bribe from the WHO requesting that he put ‘a toxin’ in the country’s herbal coronavirus therapy.
By Tatiana Prophet
And now for the punchline, Madagascar has not left the World Health Organization. That action is reserved for maverick, or impulsive, American Presidents — and the adjective depends on whom you ask.
What is true, however, is that Madagascar’s young and colorful president, 46-year-old Andry Rajoelina, announced in April 2020 that his government had come up with a promising treatment for Covid-19, an herbal tonic dubbed “Covid Organics.” And the treatment has become quite popular throughout Africa, where Covid cases and deaths are much lower than northern hemispheric, Western nations. One buyer of Covid Organics is Tanzania, where a staunchly independent character also presides — and even stole world headlines last year when he secretly put samples from a fruit and a goat through a Covid test (three items came out positive).
Tanzania has had only 21 deaths during the entire pandemic, out of 60 million people, while Madagascar endured 285 Covid deaths out of a population of 28 million. Those are excellent numbers, but nowhere near the lowest Covid deaths in the continent. Still, it’s much better than much of the northern hemisphere, and infinitesimal compared to the 3,684 deaths in Madagascar from malaria — almost 13 times the number of Covid deaths to date.
The treatment’s main ingredient is artemisia annua, also known as Sweet Wormwood, originating in China and known there as qinghao. Ironically, artemisia annua was scientifically shown to treat malaria, at one time with the blessing of the WHO, especially in malaria strains that have developed a resistance to chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine. At some point, malaria became resistant to artemisia annua, so WHO scientists developed ACT, or artemisinin-based combination therapies to combat malaria, with great success. (Not to be confused with AZT, the first drug approved for AIDS which was later shown to be highly toxic, albeit effective).
Malaria is no joke in sub-Saharan Africa; every single demographic is at risk, especially young children; and 500,000 people die of the disease worldwide — mostly in Africa. So the WHO’s concern in 2020 about the use of artemisia annua causing malaria to become resistant, is valid. Still, ACT is the replacement for artemisia. But most of the headlines don’t get into that nuance, instead preferring to smear the plant that has seen so much success against the parasite.
Malagasy President Andry Rajoelina holds a press conference on April 20, 2020, in the capital of Madagascar (known as Antananarivo), to announce the nation’s Covid-19 treatment, Covid Organics.
The smear campaign was relentless all throughout 2020.
Two weeks after Rajoelina’s announcement (and drinking the product at his press conference), the World Health Organization responded, touting its record of approving traditional remedies and cautioning against using “unproven” traditional medicine to treat Covid-19.
“WHO supports scientifically-proven traditional medicine,” May 4, 2020.
And major worldwide media were quick to re-type the WHO’s press release.
"Unproven herbal remedy against COVID-19 could fuel drug-resistant malaria, scientists warn," Science magazine, May 6, 2020.
"Madagascar coronavirus herbal mix draws demand from across Africa despite WHO misgivings," Reuters, May 8, 2020.
"Amid WHO warnings and with no proof, some African nations turn to herbal tonic to try to treat Covid-19," CNN, May 15, 2020.
By August 2020, Madagascar had a “surge” in cases and deaths, if you call going from zero deaths to a couple hundred a “surge.” Compare those deaths to malaria in that country, and you get the idea.
"Madagascar president's herbal tonic fails to halt Covid-19 spike," BBC, August 13.
Finally, by December, an article lumped many “fraudulent” cures together, including this one and a fake HIV cure alleged to have been created in Gambia.
"As treatments for COVID-19 are sought, there also needs to be a stronger stance against promoting unproven medicines," African Arguments, December 2020. We should note that this same article accused President Rajoelina of “sidelining his health experts.” Sound familiar? The president is definitely a colorful personality. He used to be a national DJ, holding large-scale events that were wildly successful in the 1990s. At age 31, he became mayor of the capital city, Antananarivo. In 2009, he came to power in a military coup, and served as president until 2014. By 2018, he ran for president again, this time winning the election for his current term.
This is an interview with Rajoelina by France 24 from May 2020 and it's very informative.
To recap our fact check: There are two claims. 1) Madagascar has allegedly left the WHO; and 2) The WHO allegedly offered Madagascar’s President Rajoelina $20 million to put a toxin in the nation's herbal treatment (which he has exported to other nations in Africa).
We have verified that the nation did not leave the WHO; but as for the other, that's unprovable. Still, the global media widely panned this treatment, which is odd since it originally cured the prevalent-Africa-wide parasite malaria; and the malaria parasite feeds off hemoglobin, and hemoglobin is what Covid-19 attacks. Yet every article is skeptical and always says “no results yet.” Well if a pandemic can’t speed clinical trials up to at least an average level, or a pandemic can’t move us to try natural cures when the alternative is death, what does that say about our efficiency as a society?
Hemoglobin, transporter of oxygen to the body, is the link between malaria and Covid-19. We have never seen this information anywhere else except our original source, which was a doctor on a web site dedicated to treating Hemophilia-B. Both hydroxychloroquine and artemisia are used to treat malaria.
A PAW-PAW FRUIT AND A GOAT TEST POSITIVE FOR COVID
Tanzania bought in to the herbal cure early on. Tanzania’s president, John Magufuli, made headlines last year when he announced that a paw paw fruit, a goat and a quail tested positive for SARS-Cov-2 (the virus that causes Covid-19). It seems he had secretly sent samples from several animals and substances, even motor oil.
In April 2020, he arranged to send a plane to Madagascar to pick up a supply of Covid Organics. Tanzania has had a few hundred cases, and 21 deaths total from Covid-19 — the sixth fewest deaths in Africa after Sao Tome and Principe, Mauritius, Eritrea, Burundi, the Seychelles and Western Sahara.
On January 27, 2021, Magufili warned his country about accepting a Covid vaccine.
“We have lived for over one year without the virus because our God is able and Satan will always fail. The Health ministry should be cautious, and avoid the temptation to turn us into a country where vaccination trials are conducted freely,” he was quoted in Africa News as saying.
“In a certain country, its girl children – aged below 14 years – were vaccinated against what was said to be cervical cancer, but it later emerged that the vaccination was meant to make them infertile,” Dr. Magufuli said.
He was most likely referring to the vaccine trials in India sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, in which patients said they had no idea they were being given the vaccine. Politifact has debunked a claim that Indian children had died from the vaccine, claiming it was a revived story that had been shared by an “anti-vaccination” website. But the item, and a real court trial in India, was revealed in the Daily Mail as an investigation.
Madagascar has been the beneficiary of aid from the United States to control its malaria problem, including money from the notorious USAID, known around the world for distributing millions from the United States — and sometimes losing track of the money. Is it possible that Madagascar has more Covid deaths than Tanzania because health officials there are more influenced by the elite global health perspective of skepticism about traditional medicines, while Tanzania, in its independent stance, has stayed freer of Western influence? It’s impossible to know for sure. But suffice to say, Covid deaths in both countries are shockingly low.
Like the “Trump drug” hydroxychloroquine, artemisia annua was smothered before it had a chance to breathe. While President Rajoelina had urged the rest of the world to use his tonic as both prophylactic and therapy, very few outside of Africa have even heard of the treatment, much less had access to it. Yet it was used for decades to fight a much more serious disease in the sub-Sahara already.
After reviewing the background, news coverage, and fallout of the emergence of a homegrown Covid therapy born in Africa, we can only conclude one thing:
In maligning the treatment, and slow-walking or refusing to complete clinical trials, the leadership in the northern hemisphere, specifically Europe and America, are complicit in a CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY. And that goes for both hydroxychloroquine, and artemisia annua — both touted by outsiders and businessmen who only asked that they be given a chance.
