Is Artemisia about to overthrow malaria?

Is malaria, Africa’s real plague, about to be solved?

As a reminder, 90 percent of the world’s people suffering from malaria live in Africa. And 91 percent of annual deaths caused by that disease occur in Africa as well. Those figures demonstrate the straightforwardly sum up how huge the extent of the pandemic is in the Cradle of Humanity.

Posology regarding malaria can sometimes be costly for the average African who may not be able to afford treatment. Not even to mention navigating counterfeit medicines and a possible lack of access to care, depending on the region in which you live.

However, hope exists in the form of a plant that has been unleashing passions over the past few years. Originally coming from China and now cultivated in many African countries like Ivory Coast, it is called Artemisia.

Supposedly, a person with malaria can cure themselves of the disease by drinking an herbal tea made with Artemisia in barely a week. A mouth-watering concept, isn’t it? While Artemisia seems to be a miracle cure, defeating malaria entirely is a bit more complicated.

As a lot of physicians and research workers assert, if it is true that Artemisia is an essential component of many of the drugs that treat malaria, then the plant on its own is inefficient. Rather, it is the act of combining the plant with other materials that creates viable treatments.

In addition, Artemisia’s artemisinin content (the curative active ingredient in the plant) varies depending on many factors. Including mode of cultivation, weather, and location. This makes administering the proper dose of the plant to a sick person via an herbal tea difficult. As one batch of Artemisia can be significantly stronger or weaker than another.

According to the WHO, completely substituting an Artemisia infusion for a proper malaria treatment can allow parasites to thrive in a sick person’s body, and cause new complications and diseases to present.

Conclusive evidence shows Artemisia is not yet ready to replace traditional medicine as a cure for malaria. Even if the latter option is much more expensive, it is far more efficient.