Ghana’s ace undercover journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas recently released a video on his latest investigation, titled ‘Corona Quacks’.
The undercover report, which focused on Nigeria and Ghana, dwelled on how quack doctors sell fake concoctions in the name of curing the dreaded COVID-19. In this interview, Anas speaks on the motivation behind the investigation and his findings.
You recently released an undercover video, titled ‘Corona Quacks’. What was the motivation behind the investigation?
Well, I think that in the midst of this COVID-19 pandemic, we are very busy thinking about how we can survive and looking for a livelihood. But life goes on as journalists. During the lockdown, I felt that we cannot bring our profession to an end due to the pandemic because life must go on. I then decided to look into issues of people trying to take advantage of the situation. I do know that some criminals thrive whenever there is a problem so I thought that I should beam my searchlight in looking at these quacks that have bedevilled our society.
So, what major discoveries did you make from this latest undercover?
If you look at Nigeria’s case, we got a few people who were involved. They propagated and made it clear that they had a cure for Coronavirus. From the video, you could see Dr. Ben Amodu who claims that he has the capacity not only to cure Coronavirus but also HIV/AIDS. You would also see the herbalist and a pastor who made similar claims. Even though I did not subject these claims from Nigeria to a lab test, but it is common knowledge that there is no cure for HIV/AIDS or COVID-19 and if anybody begins to make these claims, it means that, as journalists, we have to take a critical look at it. This is not to look down on herbal medicine. I am a very strong believer in it but I make sure that before I use them it is properly scrutinized.
Then the story brings us to Ghana where you see two people: the COA- FS and the Abdellah brothers who also claim to have a cure for COVID-19. With COA-FS if you go to their website it is stated categorically that they don’t have a cure for Coronavirus, yet if you go into their office as the video portrays, they were not only ready to sell me their supplement as a COVID-19 cure but also gave me prescriptions to be able to cure myself of the virus. The same case goes with the Abdellah brothers who were also on air propagating that they have a cure. But they put a caveat that despite the cure they have, one is not supposed to buy from them but from behind the scene. We went to their place and they were very busy selling.
Usually, when people are looking for money, they will make all kinds of outrageous claims. For example, they said the vice president of Senegal was being cured by them but we all know there is no vice president of Senegal. They also claimed to have deals with some ministers of Ghana and that even the Asante King had a deal with them worth over $150, 000. All these were in a bid to convince people, and indeed they did convince people who bought their stuff. But again, it is not just enough as a journalist to have that, it is important to carry out scientific verification of such claims. So, we took samples to the Ghana Standard Authority. Indeed, the result that came out was terrible. It was discovered to be very poisonous for human consumption.
Even though your focus on this report was Ghana and Nigeria, do you think your findings were a reflection of what goes on elsewhere in Africa?
Yes, especially after the film, I had a lot of calls from my colleagues on the African continent who were saying that I have reminded them of similar cases in their countries. These quack herbal medicines were sold at exorbitant prices. For example, the 100 bottles that I was buying from the Abdellah brothers cost almost $25,000. This tells you that it is no joke because these quacks are busy. They also sell their drugs as preventive and curing agents at the same time. So, if you are desperate and have a relative who is down with COVID-19 then you are forced to go and try these quacks. I was personally convinced that when I take this medicine, I was likely to suffer from diarrhea.
Generally, what does this portend for Africa?
I think it is generally bad. Let’s not forget that quack medication consumes over 100,000 lives and more than 30,000 are in Africa. It has killed more than Coronavirus. So, it is up to us the journalists and civil society to keep a constant eye on these people and to ensure that we communicate to the citizenry. It is not every day that we will be thinking that the regulator would be up to date. The regulators sometimes are not up to their job but it is up to you and me to educate our village folks that indeed we believe in traditional medicine, but before we put anything in our body, we should know exactly what it does to us. The practise is widespread in Africa but combating it will surely need me and you.
You took samples of the medicines to the regulatory agency (FDA) in Ghana. What was the outcome of their analysis?
Even before my investigation, the FDA was independently working. They found out that the COA-FS contained harmful substances that we were consuming as Ghanaians, so clearly the FDA is tackling the matter. They have even taken the suspects to court. But like I would always emphasize, it is not the responsibility of our regulatory bodies alone; it is all of us because we are the ones that consume these products. We have to be alert and whatever we see, we have to let civil society know because they know what to do.
Do you think the agencies responsible for regulating the use of these drugs are doing their job very well?
It is difficult to say country by country but I know that the FDA in Ghana faces the problem of lack of personnel and funding just like those kinds of agencies face similar challenges. It is happening in Kenya, Cameroon, and South Africa; they need more manpower to do their job. So, until we step up our efforts to save ourselves, we should not expect anybody to come and save us.
It is rather curious that the COA-FS owner claimed that his supplement was used to treat COVID-19 infected patients in China.
That was his claim but I have to see scientific evidence to agree. I haven’t seen a Chinese person or ambassador issuing a statement in support of this claim. Rather, I have heard that the virus has broken out again in that country. If they had COA-FS, they wouldn’t be suffering. I am saying that Ghana would be proud to have COA-FS as a cure but if it is not, you can’t call it a cure. We’d even encourage them on anything they need to do to make their medication better and cure coronavirus, but as we speak, it is not wholesome for consumption.
Aside from coronavirus cure, there were other claims in the video that caught my attention. For instance, Dr. Abdellah claimed that he was responsible for the downfall of Gambia’s ex-President Yahya Jammeh…
Quacks would do anything to get a say; to them, it is an opportunity to milk people. He also said they have supernatural powers; he was a dwarf; all these were ways of convincing us about the supernatural powers his medication had. But for me and the sake of journalism, that is not enough to take me away. I need to understand the scientific implication of what you say before I accept it as what it is. The problem is with those who don’t have this kind of reservation; which is why those of us in the media must take the lead against people who want to propagate quack medication.
So far, what impact would you say this undercover report has made?
If you go to the website, you will see that a lot of people have watched it. I have had interviews across the African continent and people have associated themselves with the matter. You’d also see that the FDA in Ghana is prosecuting the two suspects. There is nothing more interesting in seeing a story that has an immediate impact on people like this.
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