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Madagascar president backs unproven herbal treatment for coronavirus

Madagascan President Andry Rajoelina has officially launched a local herbal remedy he claims can prevent and cure the novel coronavirus.

Madagascan President Andry Rajoelina gave the official launch to a herbal tea claimed to prevent and cure coronavirus./AFP

“Tests have been carried out, two people have now been cured by this treatment,” Rajoelina told ministers, diplomats and journalists at the Malagasy Institute of Applied Research (IMRA), which developed the beverage.

“This herbal tea gives results in seven days,” he said.

Downing a dose, he said: “I will be the first to drink this today, in front of you, to show you that this product cures and does not kill.”

The drink, called COVID-Organics, is derived from artemisia a plant with proven efficacy in malaria treatment and other indigenous herbs, according to the IMRA.

But its safety and effectiveness have not been assessed internationally, nor has any data from trials been published in peer-reviewed studies. Mainstream scientists have warned of the potential risk from untested herbal brews.

The principal ingredient in the drink is derived from Artemisia annua or sweet wormwood. Dried leaves from the plant are considered to have medicinal properties in Madagascar. But there is no evidence to show it actually works against COVID-19, a respiratory disease that has claimed more than 165,000 lives and infected almost 2.5 million people across the world.

Herbal remedies made from A. annua leaves are often touted as a cure for malaria. But its use against malaria is controversial. The World Health Organization criticized A. annua’s use in 2012 report saying it couldn’t recommend the use of A. annua plant material, in any form, including tea, for the treatment or the prevention of malaria,”.

Rajoelina’s government brushed aside any such reservations and said the concoction would be offered to schoolchildren, as it was his duty was to “protect the Malagasy people”.

“Covid-Organics will be used as prophylaxis, that is for prevention, but clinical observations have shown a trend towards its effectiveness in curative treatment,” said Dr. Charles Andrianjara, IMRA’s director-general.

The president also said the product will be made available for free to the poor.

The large Indian Ocean island has so far detected 121 cases and no fatality.

The pandemic has triggered a rush for herbal formulas, lemons and ginger in the belief that they can protect against the virus.The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), referring to claims for herbal or tea remedies, says: “There is no scientific evidence that any of these alternative remedies can prevent or cure the illness caused by COVID-19. In fact, some of them may not be safe to consume.”

By

 Halligan Agade

 

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New Oromo Music 2020 Ifiinnesh Qannoo & Hawwii Qananii Hadhafi Ilmoo Wbo...

#covid19

https://edition.cnn.com/videos/tv/2020/04/08/erna-solberg-amanpour-norway-coronavirus-world-health-organization.cnn

Sin tuffadhe addunyaa! [by #Lataa Qana'ii Aagaa]

#ETHIOPIA

የኢትዮጵያ መንግሥት የኮሮና ወረርሽኝ እየተባባሰ በመምጣቱ ምክንያት የአስቸኳይ ጊዜ ዐውጇል፡፡

ክቡራትና ክቡራን ኢትዮጵያውያን

እየተመለከታችሁትና እየታዘባችሁት እንደሆነው ዓለም በአስቸጋሪ የፈተና ምእራፍ እያለፈች ነው፡፡ ዓለም ይሄንን መሰል ነገር ሲገጥማት ከመቶ ዓመት በኋላ የመጀመሪያ ነገር ነው፡፡

የኢትዮጵያ መንግሥት ኮሮና (ኮቪድ -19) የዓለም ሁለንተናዊ ችግር ሆኖ ብቅ ካለበት ጊዜ ጀምሮ ደረጃ በደረጃ የመፍትሔ ርምጃዎችን ሲወስድ ቆይቷል፡፡ ሕዝቡ ግንዛቤ እንዲያገኝ፣ የሕክምና ተቋማት እንዲዘጋጁ፣ የመከላከያና የሕክምና መሣሪያዎች ከውጭ እንዲገቡ፣ የማቆያ ሥፍራዎች እንዲዘጋጁ፣ ትምህርት ቤቶች እንዲዘጉ፤ አብዛኞቹ የመንግሥት ሠራተኞች በቤት እንዲወሰኑ፣ ብዙ ሕዝብ ሊሰበሰብባቸው የሚችሉ ሃይማኖታዊና ማኅበራዊ ተቋማት አገልግሎታቸውን ሕዝብ ሊሰበሰብ በማይችልበት መንገድ እንዲከውኑ፣ በአብዛኛው ሥፍራዎች የሕዝብ ትራንስፖርት እንዲቋረጥ፣ ለአስቸጋሪ ጊዜ የሚሆን ሀብት የማሰባሰብ ሥራ እንዲሠራ ተደርጓል፡፡

መንግሥት የኮሮና ወረርሽኝን በተመለከተ የሚከተለው ስትራቴጂ በመከላከል ላይ ያተኮረ ነው፡፡
1. ኅብረተሰቡን አስተባብሮ በባለሞያዎች ምክር መሠረት ለመከላከል መቻል
2. ከመከላከል ያለፈ ነገር ሲመጣ ለማከም የሚያስችሉ ዐቅሞችን ማዳበር፡፡
3. የከፋው ነገር ከመጣም አስቀድሞ በመዘጋጀት እንደየ አስፈላጊነቱ ተገቢ ውሳኔዎችን እያሳለፉ መሄድ፡፡

እስካሁንም በዚህ መንገድ ነው የተጓዝነው፡፡

አሁን ያሉን መረጃዎች እንደሚያሳዩት በቫይረሱ የተያዙ ወገኖች ቁጥር በፍጥነት እየጨመረ ነው፡፡ ይሄም በመሆኑ ሁላችንም ያለንን ዐቅም ሁሉ አስተባብረን ወገኖቻችንን ከዚህ ወረርሽኝ ለመከላከልና የታመሙትንም ለማዳን ማዋል አለብን፡፡ ያለንበት ጊዜ ሕዝብና ሀገርን ለማዳን ሲባል አስቸጋሪ የተባሉ ውሳኔዎችን መወሰን ያለብን ጊዜ ነው፡፡ ይህም ውሳኔ፣ እንደ ግለሰብ፣ እንደ ማኅበረሰብ፣ እንደ ተቋምና እንደ መንግሥት የሚወሰኑ ናቸው፡፡

ይህ ውሳኔ በዛሬው ትውልድ ላይ ብቻ የምንወስነው ውሳኔ አይደለም፡፡ በልጅ ልጆቻችን ላይ ጭምር የምንወስነው ነው፡፡ በዛሬዋ ኢትዮጵያ ላይ የምንወስነው ብቻ አይደለም፤ በነገዋና በከነገ ወዲያዋ ኢትዮጵያ ላይ ጭምር የምንወስነው ውሳኔ ነው፡፡ የኛ የመሪዎቹ ውሳኔ ብቻ ሳይሆን የእያንዳንዱ ዜጋ ውሳኔ በታሪክ የሚመዘገብ ነው፡፡

ይሄንን አስቸጋሪ ጊዜ ልናልፈው የምንችለው በአካል ተራርቀን በመንፈስ ግን አንድ ሆነን ከቆምን ብቻ ነው፡፡ የያንዳንዳችን ሀብት የሁላችን፣ የእያንዳንዳችንም ችግር የሁላችን መሆን አለበት፡፡ አንዱ በልቶ ሌላው ተርቦ፣ አንዱ ሠርቶ ሌላው ሥራ አጥቶ፣ አንዱ መኖሪያ አግኝቶ ሌላው ውጭ አድሮ፣ አንዱ አትርፎ ሌላው ከሥሮ ይሄንን ችግር ለማለፍ ፈጽሞ አይቻልም፡፡ ምክንያቱም ይህ ችግር የመጣው በህልውናችን ላይ በመሆኑ፡፡ ይህ ችግር የተጋረጠው ሰው ሆኖ በመኖርና ባለመኖር ላይ በመሆኑ፡፡

መንግሥት ችግሩን በደረሰበት ልክ ለመቋቋም ተዘጋጅቷል፡፡ የምንወስዳቸው ውሳኔዎች ክብደት እንደ ችግሩ ክብደት የሚወሰን ነው፡፡ ታሪክ እዚህ አድርሶናል፡፡ ሀገርና ትውልድ በእጃችን ላይ ነው፡፡ በዚህ ዘመን በምንሠራው ሥራ ወይ እንመሰገናለን ወይ እንወቀሳለን፡፡ ከምንም በላይ ግን በጊዜውና በዐቅማችን ማድረግ ያለብንን ካላደረግን የበለጠ እንወቀሳለን፡፡ ይህ ደግሞ ሁላችንንም ኢትዮጵያውያንን የሚመለከት ነው፡፡ ከተረፍን አብረን ነው፡፡ ከከሠርንም አብረን ነው፡፡

የኢትዮጵያ መንግሥት የኮሮና ወረርሽኝ እየተባባሰ በመምጣጡ ምክንያት የአስቸኳይ ጊዜ ዐውጇል፡፡ ይህም በሕገ መንግሥቱ ዐንቀጽ 93 መሠረት የተፈጸመ ነው፡፡ ይሄንን መሳይ ዐዋጅ ብዙ ሀገሮች ካወጁ ሰንብተዋል፡፡ እኛ እስክንዘጋጅና ሁኔታው የግድ እስኪለን ጠብቀናል፡፡ ጊዜው ሲጠይቅ ግን ዐውጀናል፡፡ ሀገርን ለማዳንና ትውልድን ለመታደግ ከዚህ በላይ ልንወስን እንደምችልም መታወቅ አለበት፡፡ ዜጎቻችንም ከዚህ በላይ ግዴታቸውን ለመወጣት ወገባቸውን አጥብቀው መጠበቅ አለባቸው፡፡

በዚህ ወቅት ሁላችሁም ችግሩን ለመቋቋም ከሚሠሩት አካላት ጋር አብራችሁ እንድትቆሙ ጥሪ አቀርባለሁ፡፡ ከዚህ በተቃራኒ ችግሩን ለማባባስ የሚሠሩ ካሉ ግን፣ በሕጉ መሠረት የማያዳግም ርምጃ እንወስዳለን፡፡

ወገኖቼ፤

ኢትዮጵያውያን የሚያምርብን መረዳዳቱና መደጋጋፉ ነው፡፡ ድኾችን እንርዳ፡፡ በአካባቢያችን ላሉት ዐቅመ ደካሞች እንድረስላቸው፡፡ የቤት ተከራዮቻችንን ዕዳ እንካፈላቸው፡፡ ከቻልን አናስከፍላቸው፤ ካልቻልን ቅናሽ እናድርግላቸው፡፡ ያም ካልሆነ ይህ ጊዜ እስኪያልፍ እንታገሣቸው፡፡ በዚህ ወቅት ተከራዮችን ከቤት ማስወጣት ፈጣሪም፣ ታሪክም ሕግም ይቅር የማይሉት ወንጀል ነው፡፡ ማናችን አልፈን ማናችን እንደምንተርፍ ለማናውቅበት ጊዜ ከመተባበር የተሻለ መሻገሪያ የለንም፡፡ የግል ባለሀብቶች የሠራተኞቻቸው ሕይወት እንዲያስጨንቃቸው አደራ እላለሁ፡፡ መንግሥት የኢኮኖሚ ችግሮቻችንን ለመፍታት አስፈላጊውን ሁሉ እየወሰነ አብሯችሁ እንደሚሆን በዚህ አጋጣሚ እገልጥላችኋለሁ፡፡

ለሌሎች ወገኖቻቸውና ለሀገራቸው ሲሉ ቤታቸውን፣ ሆቴላቸውን፣ አዳራሾቻቸውን፣ የእምነት ተቋሞቻቸውን፣ መኪኖቻቸውን፣ ገንዘባቸውንና እህላቸውን የሰጡ ዜጎቻችንን ስናይ ይሄንን አስቸጋሪ ወቅት ከፈጣሪ ጋር ሆነን ልናልፈው እንደምንችል ርግጠኞች እንሆናለን፡፡ በሌላ በኩል ደግሞ ከወገኖቻቸው መከራ ለማትረፍ የሚሽቀዳደሙ፣ ከመከራ እንኳን የማይማሩ ሰዎችን ስናይ መንገዱ ከባድ እንዳይሆንብን እንሠጋለን፡፡ በጎ አድራጊዎችን የምናመሰግነውን ያህል መንገዳችንን ይበልጥ ፈታኝ የሚያደርጉብንን ስግብግቦች ግን ለሕዝብና ለሀገር ስንል አስተማሪ የሆነ ቅጣት ለመቅጣት እንገደዳለን፡፡
የሕክምና ባለሞያዎቻችንን በሚቻለው ሁሉ እንርዳ፡፡ ያለ እነርሱ ግንባር ቀደምነት ትግሉን ልናሸንፍ አንችልም፡፡ የሕክምና ባለሞያዎችን ማክበር፣ ማመስገንና በጉዟቸው ሁሉ መተባበር ከእያንዳንዳችን ይጠበቃል፡፡ ለሕክምና ባለሞያዎች ተገቢውን ሁሉ አለማድረግ እጅን በእጅ እንደመቁረጥ ነው፡፡ ከእነርሱ በተጨማሪ የመከላከያ አባላት፣ የፖሊስ ሠራዊት አባላት፣ የኤሌክትሪክ ኃይልና የውኃ አቅርቦት እንዳይስተጓጎል የሚሠሩ ባለሞያዎች፣ የሚዲያ ባለሞያዎች፣ የመገናኛ መሥመሮቻችን ላይ 24 ሰዓት የሚያገለግሉ ዜጎች፣ እኛ ቤት እንድንውል እነርሱ ውጭ የሚውሉ ሠራተኞች ተገቢው ምስጋናና ድጋፍ ከቤተሰባቸውም፣ ከማኅበረሰባቸውም ያስፈልጋቸዋል፡፡

በዚሁ አጋጣሚ አርሶ አደሮቻችን የበልግ ወቅት እንዳያልፍብን ራሳቸውን ከቫይረሱ እየተጠነቀቁ በምርት ሥራ ላይ ጠንክረው እንዲሳተፉ አደራ እላቸዋለሁ፡፡ ከቫይረሱ ባልተናነሰ የእርሻ ምርት መቀነስና የእርሻ ምርት አለመኖር ሀገራችንንና ሕዝቧን ይጎዳል፡፡ እናንተ ሀገር መጋቢዎች ስለሆናችሁ፣ እየተጠነቀቃችሁ ካለፈው የተሻለ ምርት ለማምረት ትጉ፡፡ መንግሥትም አስፈላጊውን ሁሉ ሞያዊና ድጋፍ ያደርግላችኋል፡፡

የኢንዱስትሪ ምርቶቻችንም ፈጽመው መቆም የለባቸውም፡፡ ለሠራተኞቻችን ሕይወት እየተጠነቀቅን፣ በወረርሽኙ ምክንያት የሚያጋጥመንን ተግዳሮት ሁሉ እየተቋቋምን በፋብሪካ ምርቶች ላይ የተቻለንን ሁሉ ጥረት እናድርግ፡፡ በተለይም ከውጭ የምናመጣቸውን ምርቶች ለመተካት ለሚደረገው ጥረት መንግሥት አስፈላጊውን ድጋፍ ሁሉ እንደሚያደርግላችሁ እገልጥላችኋለሁ፡፡ በተለይ ግን በምርት ዝውውር ጊዜ ከፍተኛ የሆነውን የመጨረሻ ጥንቃቄ እንዲደረግ ለአፍታም ቢሆን እንዳትዘነጉት ይሁን፡፡

ይህ ጊዜ ያልፋል፡፡ ሀገራችን ከዚህ የሚስተካከሉና ከዚህም የሚብሱ ፈተናዎችን አልፋለች፡፡ ዓለማችን በየዘመናቱ የከፉ ተግዳሮቶችን አልፋ ነው እዚህ ዘመን የደረሰችው፡፡

የሚሰጡንን መመሪያዎች በሚገባ እናክብር፣ የጤና ባለሞያዎች የሚሉንን ለሕይወታችን ስንል እንስማ፡፡ በኮሮና አይቀለድም፡፡ ጉዳዩ ከመኖርና ካለመኖር ጋር የተያያዘ ነው፡፡

ይሄንን ፈተና ለማለፍ ባለ ሦስት መዓዘን ትብብር ያስፈልገናል፡፡ ወደ ጎን እኛ እርስ በርሳችን፡፡ እያንዳንዳችን ደግሞ ከፈጣሪያችን ጋር፡፡ እኔ ከሌላው ወገኔ ጋር፣ ሌላው ወገኔ ከእኔ ጋር፣ እኔና ሌላው ወገኔ ከፈጣሪ ጋር የምንገናኝበት መሥመር መቼም መቋረጥ የለበትም፡፡

በርትተንና ተረባርበን የሚጠበቅብንን እናድርግ፣ ጸንተንና በተሰበረ ልብ ሆነን ወደ ፈጣሪ እንለምን፡፡ ፈጣሪ ከእኛ ጋር ነው፡፡ መከራውን ያቀልልናል፤ ፈተናውን ያሳልፈናል፤ ማዕበሉን ያሻግረናል ብለን እናምናለን፡፡ የሃይማኖት አባቶች ያዘዙንን ጥንቃቄ እየፈጸምን ያዘዙንንም ጸሎት ተግተን እንጸልይ፡፡

ኢትዮጵያ በልጆቿ ጥረት ታፍራና ተከብራ ለዘላለም ትኑር
ፈጣሪ ኢትዮጵያንና ሕዝቦቿን ይባርክ

መጋቢት 30/ 2012 ዓ.ም

#Covid19

10:10 GMT - Ethiopia declares state of emergency to curb spread of COVID-19

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Wednesday declared a state of emergency in the country to help curb the spread of the new coronavirus, his office said on Twitter.

"Considering the gravity of the #COVID19, the government of Ethiopia has enacted a State of Emergency," Abiy's office said.

Office of the Prime Minister - Ethiopia

✔@PMEthiopia

Considering the gravity of the #COVID19, the Government of Ethiopia has enacted a State of Emergency according to Article 93 of the Constitution.

PM @AbiyAhmedAli calls upon all to follow the ensuing measures that will further define the SOE. #PMOEthiopia https://twitter.com/AbiyAhmedAli/status/1247814586830671873 …

Abiy Ahmed Ali 

✔@AbiyAhmedAli

የኢትዮጵያ መንግሥት የኮሮና ወረርሽኝ እየተባባሰ በመምጣቱ ምክንያት የአስቸኳይ ጊዜ ዐውጇል፡፡

213

11:22 AM - Apr 8, 2020

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Africa's second most populous nation at more than 110 million, Ethiopia has recorded 52 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, and two deaths.

Authorities have already taken a series of measures to stem the spread including closing schools, banning public gatherings and requiring most employees to work from home.

The prime minister did not mention what additional steps would be taken under the state of emergency.

Aljazeera

#Ethiopian

Only in Ethiopia!

This is one of the prisons in Ethiopia, located in the western Oromia region. Almost all of these people are political prisoners. The so-called Nobel Peace Prize winner Abiy Ahmed is treating human beings like this at the time when the world is shaking of Civid-19 pandemic. The Ethiopian government has made a lip service ban of gatherings to contain the pandemic, however, these citizens are still being treated like this, only because of their political opinion. The people in this part of Ethiopia were deprived of their right of access to information until very recently, due to government blockade of internet and telephone service to the region, hence, there is very limited awareness on the virus transmission.

What are coronaviruses AFP 1

What are coronaviruses? | AFP

#CORONAVIRUS19

#Ethiopian

My name is Tofik Jamal Abdullah

I condemn the internet and phone service shutdown by Ethiopia gov’t in Western and southern Oromia. To prevent the spread of Corona Virus information is very crucial. Blocking information during this critical time is a violation of human rights. The Ethiopian government should unblock the internet and phone service shut down before it is too late. The people should not be left in the dark for death.“





#ReconnectTheWestETH
#COVID19
#Ethiopia

#Ethiopia

My name is Shakira Adam

I condemn the internet and phone service shutdown by Ethiopia gov’t in Western and southern Oromia. To prevent the spread of Corona Virus information is very crucial. Blocking information during this critical time is a violation of human rights. The Ethiopian government should unblock the internet and phone service shut down before it is too late. The people should not be left in the dark for death.“

#ReconnectTheWestETH
#COVID19
#Ethiopia

#Ethiopia

Two journalists and a driver arrested, held without charge in Ethiopia

March 18, 2020 12:10 PM ET

Nairobi, March 18, 2020 -- Authorities in Ethiopia should immediately and unconditionally release journalists Dessu Dulla and Wako Nole and media worker Ismael Abdulrzaq, and let them work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

On March 7, police arrested Dessu, deputy director of the privately owned Oromia News Network broadcaster, Ismael, a driver for the station, and Wako, a reporter with the Sagalee Bilisummaa Oromoo radio broadcaster, in Burayu, a town in the Oromia region, according to Muhammed Regassa and Betie Urgessa, two Oromia News Network employees who spoke to CPJ via messaging app, and an eyewitness to the arrests who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing safety concerns.

Betie told CPJ that the three appeared in court on March 10, and that police were granted 14 days to hold them in custody, but said they were not charged with any crime.

“Holding journalists for weeks without charge is a violation of their basic rights and a clear effort to intimidate the press; Ethiopia must release Dessu Dulla, Wako Nole, and Ismael Abdulrzaq immediately,” said CPJ Sub-Saharan Africa representative Muthoki Mumo. “Journalists must be allowed to cover regional politics without official interference or fear that they will be arbitrarily arrested.”

Police arrested the journalists and driver shortly after they left the Burayu police station, where they had traveled to speak with Abdi Regassa, a senior member of the opposition Oromo Liberation Front political party, who was detained there, according to Muhammed, Betie, and the eyewitness. Two Oromo Liberation Front party members who were visiting Abdi were also arrested, those sources said.

The eyewitness told CPJ that he heard a police officer shouting that the journalists had taken pictures on their phones before they arrested them and added that officers were likely uncomfortable with the journalists visiting Abdi Regassa. Prior to 2018, Abdi was a commander in the liberation front’s armed wing while it operated from exile and was designated a terror organization; police initially denied having him in custody, according to a report by the privately owned news site Addis Standard.

The Oromia News Network vehicle was involved in a minor road accident at the scene, but those sources told CPJ that it was unrelated to the arrests. Police are still holding the vehicle, Betie told CPJ.

The Oromia News Network, which operated in exile until 2018, primarily covers politics and is targeted at an Afaan Oromo-speaking audience; Sagalee Bilisummaa Oromoo, which broadcasts some of its programming on the news network, hosts programming that is supportive of the Oromo Liberation Front and also covers regional news, according to Muhammed and Betie, as well as CPJ’s review of the broadcasters’ content.

In a phone interview on March 10, Oromia regional government spokesperson Getachew Balcha told CPJ that he did not know anything about the journalists’ arrests. Getachew later acknowledged their detention in an interview with the U.S. Congress-funded Voice of America broadcaster, but said that they were arrested due to prior offenses.

Getachew referred CPJ to the head of the Oromia Peace and Security Bureau, identified as “Mr. Jibril,” for comment. Jibril told CPJ in a phone interview yesterday that he did not know about the journalists’ cases.

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