Statement on Herbal Remedies and Medicines for Prevention and Treatment of COVID-19

Herbal-based traditional medicines or phytomedicines play a significant role in disease management in Africa and are widely used as alternative medicines. Therefore, it is important to evaluate both the safety and efficacy of these indigenous botanical assets in medicine prior to endorsing their use by the medical community and the public. There have been several declarations by institutions in Member States on the use of herbal-based traditional medicine for the prevention of SARS-CoV-2 transmission or treating people with a presumptive or definitive diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Many of the claims are difficult to verify because of the lack of documented evidence showing that these remedies prevent or clear SARS-CoV-2 infection and/or improve clinical outcomes of those suffering from COVID-19. As the pandemic continues to spread in Africa, there are increasing messages promoting the use of herbal-based traditional medicines for COVID-19. Currently, no herbal remedy has been validated for use to prevent or treat COVID19. Herbal remedies or medicines are naturally occurring, plant-derived substances that are developed mostly through a process with minimal or no respect for good clinical practice (GCP).