Brazzaville, 25 April 2003 -- The World Health Organization (WHO) is to provide technical support for the development and commercial production of dihydro-artemisinin, a plant-based anti-malarial medicine reputed to have the highest cure rate for the disease, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr E.M. Samba, has said.
The medicine is extracted from Artemisia annua, a Chinese medicinal plant which also flourishes in Tanzania, and grown in commercial quantities in the country's Southern and Northern highlands.