Artemisia, effective Chinese plant against malaria

• April 25, 2024

The resistance of malaria-transmitting mosquitoes to traditional medicines and insecticides has motivated the search for other alternatives for their efficient control and eradication with new medicines developed from certain plants.

Such is the case of the Artemisia annua L, a plant of Chinese origin, whose effectiveness has been demonstrated.

According to Margriet den Boer, pharmacist at MFS Netherlands, an expert in malaria, there is a serious problem of production and supply of this plant that serves as a basis for artemisinin combination therapy (ACT), even though the World Health Organization ( WHO) has recommended its use as the best treatment option against malaria.

The conflict is that the plant is collected only once a year and "no one has taken the initiative to make large orders in advance, so that producers will not be able to invest in the extensive cultivation of Artemisia annua or increase the processing capacity of said raw material ".

From China to Africa

However, at the end of 2009, the African Stop Malaria NGO started the cultivation of artemisia in the Gambia as an effective response to the disease.

Lago Vázquez, a spokesperson for the NGO, told La Vanguardia newspaper that "the plants have endured the rainy season well and have adapted to the new climate." Now what you have to achieve is to extend them throughout the country so that citizens have a hand that natural remedy. "

An artemisia plant can multiply by a hundred in suitable conditions. The simple infusion with dried leaves of the herb has proven to be an effective remedy to fight malaria.

"What we intend is to offer an alternative to the drug, which is often expensive, does not reach all regions and is often rejected by the population," said Vázquez.

Other projects continue to be developed in Switzerland, such as the Conthey Center for Arboriculture and Horticulture. After 10 years of research, it was possible to select a variety of artemisia with a concentration ten times higher than active molecules. Good and new answers against the fearsome malaria.

Video Medicine: Chinese Genetically Modified Herb To Treat Malaria (April 2024).