Home Blog Page 146

Will salt water gargling, nose rinsing wash COVID-19 away?

Bamas Victoria
-
0
Will salt water gargling, nose rinsing wash COVID-19 away?

A man in a video that went viral prescribed a salt solution as a cure for COVID-19.

He said rinsing the nose and gargling salt water is the treatment.

He did not make reference to any clinical trials or structure for this treatment.

He, however, said it was recommended to him and his wife by a doctor when they tested positive for the COVID-19. And four days after using it, they got cured.

“I tested positive—me and my wife—for COVID-19. We called the doctor and told him this is what is happening and he said, ‘No, it is not a deadly disease’. He said, ‘What you should do: take some salt in a spoon and take a half glass of water, put the salt in the glass of water….”

The man did not state who the doctor is, nor did he provide any verifiable evidence. He, however, referenced a religious text where a prophet made use of a salt  to cure or treat some water causing ailments.

The man also alleged that his daughter and granddaughter in the US, whom he recommended the treatment to, tested negative after a few days.

The same applied to his sister in Swaziland and a doctor’s mother in East London. All got cured after using his treatment.

In the 4 minutes and 43 seconds-long video, the man said he was prompted to share this remedy when his sister called him to take her to the hospital as she could not “breathe”.

Instead, he recommended the solution to her, which she applied and within 30 minutes she got relief.

“And within two days, she was okay. She is back to work now,” he said.

The salt solution

According to him, the salt solution is done by adding a spoon of salt to a half glass of water for nose rinsing.

A similar solution is done for gargling, except, this time, the water has to be warm.

…but does it cure COVID-19?

The World Health Organisation (WHO) in its myth busters section stated that saline (mixture of water and salt) does not cure the COVID-19.

The health body stated, “There is no evidence that regularly rinsing the nose with saline has protected people from infection with the new coronavirus.”

It, however, says,  “There is some limited evidence that regularly rinsing the nose with saline can help people recover more quickly from the common cold. However, regularly rinsing the nose has not been shown to prevent respiratory infections.”

Furthermore, the MIT Medicals (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in its coronavirus update also stated there was no evidence that gargling warm water with salt or a vinegar solution prevented infection with COVID-19.

The WHO graphics card debunking the use of salt as COVID-19 prevention.

A professor in Medical Microbiology and an expert in the management of infectious hazards, Adebola Olayinka when contacted in February and shown the video, explained that saline sprays as a medical treatment has been used for decades especially for children to reduce congestion on the nose.

“If someone has a blocked nose and there is mucus,  putting the saline spray can relieve the person of the congestion”, she noted.

As to this man’s claim of it healing COVID-19, she said “I have my doubts”.

She explained that people who have COVID-19  alongside cough and nasal congestions may get relief from the nasal infection if they use the saline spray. However, it does not mean that they have become COVID-19 negative.

“I think the danger is equating absence of symptoms to being cured of COVID-19. The symptoms might be relieved but that person is still infectious and is able to transmit the infection”.

Other misinformation around the use of salt

The MIT Medicals also added that this “cure” was popular during the spread of SARS, MERS, and Zika as well — and was equally useless then.

The use of salt was also prevalent in Nigeria during the 2014 Ebola outbreak. This led to fatal results, with many people hospitalised for salt poisoning almost more than with Ebola infection itself. The use of drinking and bathing with salt water was reported to have been started by a student as a prank.

A study  published in 2019 about the 2014 misinformation found that 52 per cent of people who used salt water did it because they felt there was no harm in trying it, while 39 per cent said it was because they saw some health officials doing same.

Study on salt solution and the cure for coronavirus

A study  led by Professor Aziz Sheikh and Dr Sandeep Ramalingam at the University of Edinburgh, known as the Edinburgh and Lothians Viral Intervention Study, or Elvis, recruited healthy adults within two days of them contracting a type of upper respiratory tract infection commonly known as a cold.

The control group treated the cold as they normally would. The other group was asked to gargle and rinse their nasal passages with a salt solution at will.

The researchers found that 95% of those who gargled with salt water and used nasal irrigation reduced their illness by 1.9 days, because the virus cleared faster, they were less likely to spread the common cold.

Therefore, the researchers are re-examining the study to check if its benefits may also extend to COVID-19 patients, and they are calling it the  ELVIS COVID-19 Study.

A promotional video on the website reads, “COVID-19 causes fever, cough and other symptoms. The ELVIS COVID-19 study is to find out if you will get better quicker by rinsing the nose and gargling with salt water.”

As at the time of this report the study is still ongoing and the call is still on for participants.

A search result of the video using google image reverse search tool.

Who is spreading the misinformation?

In trying to determine the ‘message zero’, the first person to have shared it on WhatsApp was traced to February 2021, when it was shared by a retired director from the Nigerian civil service. However, the end-to-end encryption and privacy policies, coupled with limited time, made the attempt futile.

A search on the web using Invid fake news debunker, which broke the video into frames and the frames along with keywords “Salt cure covid”, reversed searched using Google reverse image tool, produced nine results from six sources.

The videos were posted on Facebook and they were all pages.  Three of the pages are dedicated to health, beauty & herbal remedy [Vicky Gold, Wholesale Alkaline Fruits, vegetables & herbs,  BeckytaTV], while one is a support page [Tell Tessys Inspirational Corner], another is a blogging page [Jenny’s Talk Show] and the other [Enogie Ekunwe] was not stated. Further search also brought out another [Milly Beauty Products].

Using ‘whereisthatnumberfrom’, a  web application  lookup tool that helps users check the country and area of phone number, the phone numbers associated with the pages turned out to be from Germany [Inspiration], Ghana [wholesale] and Zambia [Milly Beauty].

Some of the pages have phone numbers associated with different countries.

This suggests that the video was circulated in multiple other countries aside Nigeria.

Five of the posts were made at different points in February while the sixth one was in June.

As at June 30, the latter has garnered over 18,000 views and 79 comments, generally thanking the poster. Only one comment stated to proceed with caution to avoid “aspiration pneumonia”.

Most of the pages posted it as some form of herbal remedy.

The use of herbal remedy and home-made remedy in Nigeria is not uncommon.

As the race to create vaccines for coronavirus is ongoing, multiple influential leaders in Nigeria and Africa are promoting herbal medicines and remedies.

One of Nigeria’s most influential traditional rulers, Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Ogunwusi, in collaboration with a herbal company in February unveiled herbal drugs for the treatment of coronavirus.

The monarch said the Federal Government was aware of the drug and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) had approved it.

However, the drugs, Verozil, Bitter Leaf Capsule, Vision Pro and Rio Capsule, were not found on the NAFDAC registered product database as at the time of this report.

Furthermore, the agency said the herbal product Verozil, announced as a cure for COVID-19, was only an immune booster, and listed as such accordingly because it was yet to be found to be effective against the virus, as clinical trial evidence was yet to be provided.

The governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, who was reported to have contracted COVID-19, a few days later came out to say he was negative. He stated that he  consumed Vitamin C, carrots and black seed oil mixed with honey to boost his immune system to overcome the virus while in isolation.

Even though the governor stated it was an immune booster, this was interpreted in some quarters as cure for the virus.

The video as posted on different Facebook pages.

Nigeria’s stand on use of herbal drugs for COVID-19

After receiving her vaccine injection, the Director-General of NAFDAC,  Mojisola Adeyeye, told the press,  “I believe in herbal medicine. Herbal medicine that is not backed up by research may be effective, but we don’t know.

“Especially for COVID-19 vaccine, herbal medicine has to be antiviral. It is not enough that it relieves cold, cough etc., it has to be antiviral.

“We have approved about 14 for listing, meaning they are safe to use, but how efficacious, it is when you do a clinical trial that you will know. Also, it is very costly to do clinical trials.

“Of course, we would have given them listing, but they will go further for a clinical trial. We are still expecting such. I will not be surprised if we have a herbal medicine that has antiviral against COVID-19.”

This is not peculiar to Nigeria alone. The Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine scholar, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Yichang Yang, said clinical trials were needed before the approval of any herbal medicine.

“More evidence is required through controlled clinical trials to support the efficacy of these herbal drugs,” Yang said.

“Many traditional medicine practitioners believe that herbal remedies cannot be tested because they are tailored to each individual’s syndromes. This argument is simply not convincing,” he explained.

This publication was produced as part of IWPR’s Africa Resilience Network (ARN) programme, administered in partnership with the Centre for Information Resilience (CIR), the International Centre for Investigative Reporting  (ICIR), and Africa Uncensored. 

Study links narratives to COVID 19 vaccine disinformation in Africa

Bamas Victoria
-
0
Study links narratives to COVID 19 vaccine disinformation in Africa

A new report from First Draft, an organisation working to check the spread of fake news says foreign narratives and conspiracy theories, contributed to COVID-19 misinformation in the West African region.

According to the report  published in June 2021, using advanced mis and dis-information strategies, the spread of fake news took a new dimension such that it undermines public trust in several recognised institutions in the region.

The report monitored ‘popular narratives’ of vaccine-related contents entering West Africa through media and social media, majorly on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram from September 2020 to March 2021.

The West African region comprises 16 countries; Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Ivory Coast, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.

“Through our monitoring and research, one finding stood out: Foreign narratives and conspiracy theories – initially developed and popularised in North America – are taking hold in West Africa, further eroding trust in institutions in the region,” the report reads in part.

No evidence mRNA COVID-19 vaccines reduce lifespan

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, social media has been filled with unproven claims of prevention and cure that ranges from the consumption of Banana, inhaling of steams, the intake of Garlic, Lemon and even onions.

On May 7, 2021, the World Health Organisation (WHO) approved the use of the Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use after initial approval of Pfizer/BioNTech, Astrazeneca-SK Bio, Serum including Moderna, and COVAX.

So far, over 2.5 billion vaccines have been administered across 180 nations with 41.7 million doses administered daily, according to the Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker.

In Nigeria, as of June 1, 2021  1,956,598 people have received the first dose of the Oxford/Astrazeneca vaccine, amidst vaccine hesitancy among the populace.

However, based on key findings in the report, some of the false claims identified include assertions that Gates and the WHO were using vaccines to depopulate Africa; UN forced to admit that Gates-funded vaccine was causing polio outbreak in Africa; Western actors and international institutions are untrustworthy and their vaccines are not safe.

The findings in this report show how North American and European conspiracy theories and content from pro-Russian disinformation networks are moving into West Africa. Conspiracy theories and misleading claims around vaccines from abroad are commingling with pre-existing anti-Western vaccine narratives in the region, further polluting its information ecosystem.

The report authored by Carlotta Dotto and Seb Cubbon also noted that the French disinformation networks are using “manipulation and artificial amplification techniques to enable messages stemming from pro-Russian sources to reach Francophone West African communities. These messages are designed to erode trust in key actors and institutions connected to vaccines, such as Bill Gates, the WHO and the UN.”

The reports recommended  that the greater emphasis should be to identify “problematic behaviour on social media as against monitoring, and moderating individual pieces of content.”

Social Media firms were advised to deploy fact-checking measures, and most importantly, the measures should be applied regularly across languages and regions.

Part of the recommendations is to also design proactive messages that could counter wrong narratives, ideas that promote vaccine hesitancy rather than waiting for third-party to fact-check the misinformation.

The report further suggested “special messages that could address deep-seated issues of trust,” such that health experts, government institutions and those against the COVID-19 vaccinations could reach a common front on the vaccine.

And lastly, according to the research outcome, there is a need for Facebook to provide journalists and researchers with better access to data to enable easy and deeper study on both mis and dis-information.

“This will ultimately allow health policy or communication experts to more effectively target and counter falsehoods surrounding Covid-19 vaccines.”

Punitive laws failing to curb misinformation in Africa – Study

Editorial
-
0
Punitive laws failing to curb misinformation in Africa – Study

Report by:  Peter Cunliffe-Jones, University of Westminster; Alan Finlay, University of the Witwatersrand, and Anya Schiffrin

Misinformation, best understood as false or misleading information whether or not it was intended to mislead, has long been recognised as a problem worldwide. Together with disinformation, which is spread deliberately to misinform or mislead, it constitutes a key part of the information disorder distorting public debate around the world.

Concern about the effects of misinformation on individuals and society has grown globally since 2016, when it was seen by many commentators as driving the political upheavals of Brexit in the UK and the election of Donald Trump in the US.

In Africa, interest in the subject grew in particular after news emerged of disinformation campaigns run by Bell Pottinger, the British PR firm, on behalf of the Gupta family that stirred up racial tensions in South Africa in 2016 as a counter-narrative to the growing public anger at the family’s central role in grand corruption and state capture.

In Nigeria, concern about disinformation rose after news emerged of the role that disinformation orchestrated by the UK political consultancy Cambridge Analytica played in its 2015 election. Similarly in Kenya, when the firm supported the campaign of President Uhuru Kenyatta in elections two years later.

With concern rising among politicians and the public, governments around the world have since 2016 passed a flurry of laws and regulations
penalising the publication or broadcast of what is deemed to be “false information.”

In our study we examined the changes made to laws and regulations relating to the publication of “false information” in 11 sub-Saharan countries between 2016 and 2020. We also looked at how they correlate with misinformation, to understand the role they may play in reducing harm caused by misinformation.

We found that while these laws have a chilling effect on political and media debate, they do not reduce misinformation harm. This matters as the laws curtail public debate, yet fail to curb the harmful effects of misinformation.

‘False information’ laws

We first identified laws and regulations relating to “false information” in a sample of 11 countries laws – large and small, Anglophone and Francophone – from across sub-Saharan Africa. The countries studied between 2016 and 2020 were Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda.

We then compared the terms of the laws passed with what is known about the types, drivers and effects of misinformation. This was based on studying 1,200 claims identified as false by one or more of 14 fact-checking organisations in Africa. Finally, we assessed the effects of the laws’ enforcement.

In our research report, we found that in the 11 countries studied, the number of laws against “false information” almost doubled from 17 to 31 from 2016 to 2020.

The problem we identified is that these laws restrict freedom of speech. And they don’t reduce the actual – or potential harm – that misinformation causes.

This tells us that the punitive approach does not appear to work.

By contrast, an approach favouring better access to accurate information and correction of false information may do so.

Describing the “chilling effect” that the laws have had on public debate in Uganda, an analyst in Uganda told us

Self-censorship has increased in the recent past due to the state’s continued arbitrary application of the law.

Punitive approach

First, we found, the majority of laws related to “false information” took a punitive approach. They were not seeking to correct the false information or facilitate improved access to accurate information. Their aim was to punish publication with fines and terms in prison of up to 10 years.

Second, one third of the laws studied – from the Code du Numérique (2018) in Benin to the Broadcasting Code of Conduct in Nigeria (2016) – require no evidence that the allegedly false information caused or risked any form of harm, for its publication to be declared an offence. Six other laws punished “crimes” not recognised under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights’ Article 19 on Freedom of Expression. An example is the “annoyance” of ministers.

Together, more than half the laws are thus not related to reducing harm as recognised by international law.

Third, we found that how law courts should determine what information is “false”, or what constitutes “harm”, is in general not defined. Decisions are, therefore, arbitrary and open to political abuse.

Our study found the majority of those punished under these laws are opposition politicians or journalists. Not one was a government official or a politician from the ruling party. This does not correlate with what we know of misinformation and the role of some politicians in contributing to the problem.

Fourth, we found the laws take effect on a tiny scale compared to the cases of misinformation in circulation. The Disinformation Tracker project, set up in 2020 to study the implementation of laws on misinformation and disinformation, found that just 12 “law enforcement actions” were taken in three months in the 11 countries. Only one quarter of these actions had an “objectively legitimate aim”.

This pales in comparison to the hundreds of cases of misinformation tackled by the growing number of fact-checking organisations in Africa, and the millions of content moderation decisions made worldwide by tech platforms daily, many of which made to counter misinformation.

Where laws or regulations are used to prevent the continuing spread of genuinely harmful misinformation, as in cases we examined in Uganda and South Africa, it’s plausible they may directly reduce harm.

But, our study suggests these cases are the exception, not the rule.

What works against misinformation

Our study shows that the punitive legislative approach is not working, and suggests alternative approaches can be more effective.

This includes efforts seen across the continent to improve access to accurate information. Examples include setting up an independent watchdog of the quality of official statistics, as exists in the UK, and an independent body to ensure public access to that data, as in South Africa.

This is essential to counter misinformation.

It can be seen in the “right of reply” written into legislation in Malawi, that obliges broadcasters to air “counter-versions” from “entities affected by an assertion of fact” if the “fact” can be shown to be false.

It can also be seen in a new and improved press code in Senegal. Introduced in 2017, it requires all news operations to observe a code of professional ethics. This includes a focus on verification, with work overseen by an independent regulatory body.

Another approach is enabling the growth of independent fact-checking organisations seen across the continent in recent years. These alternative approaches can reduce the harm that misinformation causes, without reducing free speech.

Assane Diagne, director of Reporters Without Borders for West Africa and lecturer at the L’Ecole Supérieure de Journalisme, des Métiers de l’Internet et de la Communication in Dakar, Senegal, was part of the research team.The Conversation

Peter Cunliffe-Jones, Visiting Researcher & Co-Director Chevening African Media Freedom Fellowship, University of Westminster; Alan Finlay, Lecturer: Journalism and Media Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, and Anya Schiffrin, Director, Technology, Media, and Communications specialization, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Was N37bn approved for the renovation of the National Assembly complex?

Niyi Oyedeji
-
0
Was N37bn approved for the renovation of the National Assembly complex?

ON TUESDAY, June 22, 2021 the media reported  that the roof of the National Assembly complex in Nigeria was leaking and the building flooded following a rainfall.

A video of  cleaners scooping water from the floor of the complex was also shared on Twitter.

These reports generated reactions on social media with a number of people stating the National Assembly complex got  N37bn for its renovation.

READ ALSO: Has CBN authorised the use of cryptocurrency ‘like naira’?

Reacting to one of the reports, a Twitter user, Morris Monye [@Morris_Monye] stated that a sum of N37bn was approved and paid in 2020 for the National Assembly to be renovated.

Monye tweeted “For context, N37,000,000,000.00 (Thirty seven Billion naira only) was approved and paid in 2020 for the National Assembly complex to be renovated. Nigerians shouted and shouted back then on Twitter and forgot after a month”.

Another Twitter user, Wale Adetona [@iSlimfit] also tweeted that the building is leaking less than a year after it got N37bn  for renovation.

He wrote “What happened to the N37bn approved to renovate the National Assembly in 2020? It’s not even a year yet and the structure is leaking when rain falls. This country truly deserves a YouTube channel.”

A Twitter user misleading reaction to a news report.

THE CLAIM

N37bn was approved for the renovation of the National Assembly complex in 2020.

THE FINDINGS

Findings by the FactCheckHub show that the claim is not completely accurate.

In 2019, the President of Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari approved  N37bn for the renovation of the National Assembly complex.

This sum which was included in the 2020 budget is different from the N128bn allocated for the National Assembly in the 2020 Budget.

READ ALSO: Is Nigeria the largest producer of cassava in the world?

The N37bn was included in the 2020 budget of the Federal Capital Development Administration (FCDA).

However, in 2020, the Federal Government slashed the initially approved budget allocation by 75 per cent, thereby reducing the N37bn to N9.25bn.

This, therefore means it is misleading to claim that the the amount for the renovation of complex is N37bn since it has been reduced to N9.25bn.

National Assembly’s response

The chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs Ajibola Basiru in statement clarified that N37bn is not the sum approved for the renovation of the National Assembly Complex.

Basiru said “While it is true that an initial appropriation of the above stated sum was made due to the decaying nature of the complex which has not witnessed any major maintenance or overhauling since construction, the said amount was reduced to N9 billion after the breakout of COVID-19 pandemic.

“Even with this reduction, the sum of N9 billion or any amount is yet to be cash backed or released to the National Assembly. None of this amount is even appropriated for the National Assembly bureaucracy or its leadership,” he stated.

The National Assembly complex houses the Senate and the House of Representatives chambers.

THE VERDICT

The claim that N37bn was approved for the renovation of the National Assembly complex in 2020 is MISLEADING this is  because the N37bn which was initially approved was eventually slashed down to N9.25bn.

Picture depicting Buhari’s visit to Borno is from 2019

Niyi Oyedeji
-
0
Picture depicting Buhari’s visit to Borno is from 2019

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, June 17, 2021 visited Borno State on a one-day working visit. Although the president was greeted by a crowd the venue, however, an old, unrelated picture has been shared online to depict the president visit to the state.

Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Drainage & Water Resources Joe Igbokwe on Thursday, took to his Facebook page to share five pictures, saying they all emanated from the president’s visit to Borno.

“No He is not campaigning, he is just on an official visit. No Nigerian leader alive can attract people in a way he does. Only PMB can do this,” his post read.

READ ALSO: How scam, fraudulent actors take advantage of COVID-19

A screenshot of the Facebook post with the old image starred.

THE CLAIM

The picture of crowd in an open space is of Buhari’s  visit to Borno state in June 2021.

The old image circulated online as recent.

THE FINDINGS

Checks by The FactCheckHub show that one of the pictures emanated from the President Muhammadu Buhari’s campaign visit to Jos, Plateau State in 2019.

Google Reverse Image search revealed that the picture was from Buhari’s campaign visit to Borno State on January 19, 2019 as reported here.

This is not the first time Igbokwe will be passing an old photo as new. Earlier in June he shared  photos from 2019 as an event that happened in 2021 in relation to the greenfield students abduction. This was debunked.

THE VERDICT

The picture of the crowd in an open space is not of Buhari’s recent visit to Borno but of his 2019 campaign visit to Jos, thereby making the claim MISLEADING.

READ ALSO: Riding on WhatsApp, scam sites soar in wake of COVID-19

Has CBN authorised the use of cryptocurrency ‘like naira’?

Olugbenga ADANIKIN
-
0
Has CBN authorised the use of cryptocurrency ‘like naira’?

IN June 2021 a post which alleged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has authorised the use of cryptocurrency “like the naira in Nigeria” was circulated online.

The uncredited post which was shared multiple times on WhatsApp noted that the apex bank has concluded plans to introduce cryptocurrency before the end of 2021.

The complete story was inaccessible except readers click on a hyperlink titled – ‘get the full story on phoenix’, Phoenix is an internet browser.  After its download, the complete story opens.

THE CLAIM

That the CBN has authorised the use of cryptocurrency as a legal tender like Naira in the country.

The inaccurate report.

THE FINDINGS

The CBN’s acting Director of Corporate Communications Osita Nwanisobi told the FactCheckHub that it is false.

He said, “Nobody authorised anything of such”.

Nwanisobi, however, noted that plans are underway by the apex bank to unveil its digital currency before the end of 2021.

READ LATEST FACT-CHECKS HERE

Earlier, on June 11, at the end of the 306th Bankers’ Committee meeting, the CBN’s Director of Information Technology Department Rakiya Mohammed had announced plans by the bank to unveil a digital currency, the Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs).

The CBDC is fundamentally different from cryptocurrency in that it is a centralised and controlled currency.

The cryptocurrency which CBN described as “digital or virtual currencies issued by largely anonymous entities and secured by cryptography” is decentralised.  Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance Coin are some examples of crypto.

The post as seen in a WhatsApp group.

CBDCs are digital currencies issued and governed by a country’s central bank, it is centralised and does not have the anonymity of cryptocurrency, as such they are not the same.

CBN’s view on cryptocurrency

The Nigerian government had restricted cryptocurrency transactions in the country.

On February 5, 2021, the CBN initiated policies discouraging Nigerians from transacting using the digital platform.

Two days after, on February 7, the bank justified further why Nigerians should be mindful of the digital currency, stressing that they are unregulated and unlicensed. They are also not recognised as legal tender in the country.

THE VERDICT

The claim that the CBN has authorised the use of cryptocurrency as a legal tender in the country is FALSE.

READ ALSO:  Is Nigeria the largest producer of cassava in the world?

Can eating Bananas prevent COVID-19 infection?

Opeyemi Kehinde
-
0
Can eating Bananas prevent COVID-19 infection?

A video has been circulating on multiple WhatsApp groups in Nigeria which claims that eating “a banana a day keeps the coronavirus away.” The video has been found to be doctored with false claims.

The video, which was produced in the form of a news broadcast clip, recommends that eating a banana a day could help prevent humans from being infected with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

For over 15 months, the video has been in circulation on various social media platforms, including TikTok, YouTube, Facebook and until recently Twitter and WhatsApp platforms in Nigeria.

The video, which has been forwarded several times on WhatsApp between March 2021 and June 2021, was traced to a March 15, 2020 post on Facebook here using Google Reverse Image Search. It has been viewed over 2,700 times on the Facebook page and now circulates widely on WhatsApp.

READ MORE FACT-CHECKS HERE

It is one of the several videos spreading misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic, which has claimed over 3.8million deaths with about 176million confirmed cases globally as of June 15, 2021, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). These numbers continue to rise daily.

The World Health Organization (COVID-19) Dashboard as of 15th June, 2021. PHOTO CREDITS: www.who.int

Since the outbreak of the disease in December 2019, many social media platforms, especially WhatsApp chat groups and Facebook, have become vehicles for spreading misinformation, disinformation and conspiracy theories about the COVID-19.

Users are often asked to forward such messages to as many people as possible.

Some of such viral WhatsApp videos or texts include those claiming that drinking palm oil or hot water, tea several times daily can cure COVID-19, or that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines can reduce lifespan, or that the Nigerian government is giving out COVID-19 survival funds. These, among others, have been debunked by the ICIR’s FactCheckHub.

THE BANANA CLAIM

The claim reads: “Bananas are one of the most popular fruits worldwide. such as Vitamin C. All of these support health. people who follow a high fibre diet have a lower risk of cardiovascular disease. Bananas contain water and fibre, both of which promote regularity and encourage digestive health.

“Research made by scientists from the University of Queensland in Australia have proven that bananas improve your immune system due to the super source of Vitamins B-6 and helps prevent coronavirus. Having a banana a day keeps the coronavirus away.”

A screenshot of the viral WhatsApp video showing the false claim.

The claim has been attributed to researchers from Australia’s University of Queensland, adding that they have discovered that bananas can help prevent COVID-19 infection.

Same video, same claim but many edited versions

The 58-second video, which shows a news report by the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC), with the same banana claim, has been edited severally especially by a TikTok user, @dil_ka_raja2020 and YouTuber to include these texts inscriptions: “Bananas can beat this virus, Must Watch”;  “Banana a day keeps the Coronavirus away.” He has over 12,000 followers with over 167,000 likes on his TikTok page.

Also, an edited 27-second version of the video posted from Pakistan on YouTube on 14th March, 2020 has also been viewed 318 times.

A screenshot of the fake video when analysed using an OSINT tool – InVid.

OSINT to the rescue

In verifying this video, this reporter utilised the Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) tools to unravel the spread of this misinformation and authenticate the sources of the visuals put together in making the video.

Using keywords such as banana, COVID-19, this reporter used Hoaxy® to visualise the spread of the information on Twitter, as shown below:

The data show that texts containing the keywords have appeared in 465 tweets between 12th November, 2020 and 26th May, 2021, majorly from a Twitter user, @mb4hope. But the Twitter handle has been suspended and it is unclear why the social media platform has done that.

Similarly, this reporter used the Fake news debunker (image/video verification plugin) by InVID & WeVerify to analyse the visuals’ keyframes and contexts as well as its reverse image search tool to identify the sources of the various clips/images merged together in making the video.

The InVid tool helps journalists to verify contents posted on social media, especially when verifying videos and images.

Findings show that the video contains several footages from at least four different sources.

Keyframes analyses of the video using the Fake news debunker plugin by InVid.

The first footage in the video was truly from an ABC news clip that reported that researchers from Australia’s Queensland University were about to create a vaccine for the COVID-19. It was aired in January 2020.

Following a Google Reverse Image Search of this footage after extracting the keyframes using InVid – one of the OSINT tools – this reporter found the ABC news clip titled: “Race is on as Australian researchers rush to make coronavirus vaccine” on its official YouTube channel.

This reporter also discovered that the opening keyframes of the ABC News’ YouTube video (as shown on the LEFT screenshot) was similar to the first keyframe of the viral WhatsApp video (as shown on the RIGHT image). See the comparison of the two videos below as circled in red lines:

Screenshot of both video clips.

However, there was nowhere in the three-minute, 39-second ABC News (Australia) video where reference was made to bananas beating or preventing the COVID-19.

The Associated Press (AP) had earlier reached out via email to a University of Queensland spokesperson who confirmed that “the video is fake and said they strongly recommend people do not share it.”

Similarly, a Queensland University scientist Keith Chappell, who discussed the university’s efforts to develop a vaccine against the novel coronavirus in the ABC News video, had also told the AFP that the banana claim video “is definitely NOT true.”

In addition, video footage from the eight- to ten-second of the misleading WhatsApp video was seen on the Shutterstock videos website, using Reverse Image Search – another OSINT tool.

Further findings showed that the footages from the 12- to 23-second of the viral video were extracted from a YouTube clip made by Herbs Cures titled: “Health Benefits of Banana” and uploaded online on March 1, 2020.

Also, the ‘Herbs cures’ logo could be seen in the viral video. The ‘Herbs Cures’ video only listed the benefits of bananas and did not claim that bananas could prevent COVID-19 in the four -minute, thirty-eight second video.

Additional analysis also showed that the footages from the 24- to 31-second of the viral video were extracted from a news video published by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) in February 2020 titled: “How Scientists Are Trying to Develop a Coronavirus Vaccine.”

The four-minute, seven-second WSJ video did not claim that bananas could beat or prevent COVID-19.

Moreover, the claim has been debunked by other fact-checking and media organisations here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

Can any food or fruit prevent one from being infected with COVID-19?

According to WHO, “there is no single food that will prevent you from catching COVID-19,” but bananas have nutritional values.

A screenshot from the WHO website.

Although the global health body has a nutrition fact-sheet for healthy diets that protect against malnutrition and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer, it said there was none that could protect anyone against COVID-19.

Scientists also advised that maintaining good nutritional status could help boost one’s immune system against COVID-19, adding that there was no evidence that any food or supplement would prevent infection or spread of the disease.

“Bananas are a fine fruit and garlic is a fine vegetable. But no. There are no clinical trials to suggest they have anti-coronavirus activity. Vitamin-C Is not even a fruit or a vegetable,” says an infectious diseases expert from the University of Maryland in the United States, Faheem Younus.

However, here are WHO-recommended steps to prevent the spread of the COVID-19.

CONCLUSION

The claim is FALSE! There is no credible evidence that eating bananas can beat or prevent COVID-19 infection.

The viral WhatsApp video was doctored from two news reports by the ABC News and WSJ respectively, as well as other video footages, to include references to bananas.

This publication was produced as part of IWPR’s Africa Resilience Network (ARN) programme, administered in partnership with the Centre for Information Resilience (CIR), the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), and Africa Uncensored. For more information on ARN, please visit the ARN site.

Obasanjo’s old letter on insecurity resurfaces amidst June 12 protest

Olugbenga ADANIKIN
-
0
Obasanjo’s old letter on insecurity resurfaces amidst June 12 protest

AS some Nigerians protested against the state of governance in the country during the June 12 Democracy day, an old open letter written by a former president of Nigeria Olusegun Obasanjo resurfaced on social media.

The letter which is shared with the date “June 12, 2021” has been shared repeatedly on social media, especially on WhatsApp groups.

An analysis of the letter shows it has similar content with a previous letter written by the former President.

Obasanjo led the nation twice. First as a military administrator from 1976 to 1979, and as a democratically elected president in 1999. He stayed in the office for eight years and left the office in 2007.

The altered letter circulating on social media.

Since he left office, he has played an active role as an elder statesman. Obasanjo would occasionally write letters to the country’s presidents in situations that demand attention.

For instance, during Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, about four similar letters were written to Jonathan on the nation’s state of affairs. One of such dates December 2, 2013. It was titled “Before it is too late.”

THE FINDINGS

A line by line check reveals the viral letter attributed to the former president was written by him on July 15, 2019.

Checks on each of the paragraphs show similar content, except for the closing section and the date.

The original letter published in reputable national dailies was released by Obasanjo’s media aide. It was also dated – July 15, 2019.

In addition, the FactCheckHub reached out to the Special Assistant on Media to Obasanjo, Kehinde Akinyemi by sharing the letter to him via WhatsApp,  he confirmed that the letter is an old one.

“Okay. My verdict is that it was an old letter dated July 15, 2019. Thanks,” Akinyemi responded.

THE VERDICT

The findings shows that an old letter written by a former president Olusegun Obasanjo in 2019 resurfaced online in 2021 with some parts altered. Therefore, it is inaccurate and MISLEADING.

 

How scam, fraudulent actors take advantage of COVID-19

Bamas Victoria
-
0
How scam, fraudulent actors take advantage of COVID-19

As troubling misinformation around COVID-19 and its vaccines hits Nigeria, the country also has to bother about cyber insecurity riding on the coattails of the pandemic.

In April 2020, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) warned the public about a spike in scam and phishing messages circulating on social media posing as help for COVID-19.

How it works

A message is circulated posing as one of the government interventions asking people to apply via a link.

The link is often customised by using a URL shortener or some characters changed. This  ‘naijarealityview.com’ was customised to ‘https://bit.ly/fg-10500-weekly’ and this  ‘npower.fmhds.gov.ng’ was replicated by changing the dots to dash ‘npower-fmhds-gov-ng’.

The link directs to a form on a website that would have some attributes of a government website like logo, name, and colour.

After filling the form, you are asked to share the link on WhatsApp at least 10 times or “until the bar is full”.

Riding on WhatsApp, scam sites soar in wake of COVID-19

The websites have testimonial section designed to look like comments using  Facebook, but the profiles are not clickable.

The websites don’t have a contact number, email or clickable social media accounts.

Who is, a query and response web tool that stores information regarding websites, shows all 13 sites reviewed were new, only registered between 2020 and 2021— after the coronavirus outbreak morphed into a pandemic.

Scam bunkers, a webtool that rates the legitimacy of websites noted that “most scam websites use domain names that are less than 6 months old”.

Defrauding people, getting clicks for advert or selling harvested information for broadcast emails and bulk SMS are some of the Motivation behind these scams, an IT expert with  e86 Limited, Olugbenga Odeyemi, explained.

READ THE FULL REPORT HERE: Riding on WhatsApp, scam sites soar in wake of COVID-19

Do aspirin, antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs cure COVID-19?

Odinaka ANUDU
-
0
Do aspirin, antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs cure COVID-19?

A CLAIM circulating on several WhatsApp groups in Nigeria says that aspirin, antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs are the best cures for COVID-19.

The claim started spreading in 2020 in various parts of the world, especially the United States, but it gained momentum in Nigeria between March and May 2021.

“After a period of scientific discovery, doctors in Russia explained the treatment method by saying that the disease is a global trick,” part of the claim said.

“It is nothing but coagulation inside blood vessels (blood clots) and a method of treatment.  Antibiotic tablets anti-inflammatory and take an anticoagulant (aspirin). This indicates that it is possible to treat the disease.”

The propagators of the information attribute the drug prescription to the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, which, they say, claims that ventilators are no more necessary.

In this report, the reporter investigates the efficacy of aspirin, antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs in treating COVID-19 patients.

Who is circulating the claim?

From the WhatApp platforms, the information is investigated on Twitter to identify those spreading it. Open-source intelligence (OSINT) is used to achieve this result. One of the OSINT tools, Hoaxy®, is deployed by the reporter to visualise the spread of the information on Twitter.

Hoaxy® identifies several individual Twitter handles spreading the information to various communities. One of them is @unseen1_unseen, which has spread the information to at least five communities.

The communities have further disseminated the claim to eight other communities of Twitter users.

The Twitter handle @unseen1_unseen has 26 500 followers and follows 11 700 handles. It does not look like anyone’s real name, but it is an influential handle. The handle was created in July 2017, but a reverse image search shows that the handle stole the profile picture.  The picture belongs to Frédéric Bastiat (1801-1850), one of the leading advocates of free markets and free trade in the mid-19 century.

Two of the handle’s followers are @Matt_VanDyke and @MurrayNewlands, founder of Sons of Liberty International Mattew VanDyke and contributor at Forbes Murray Newlands. Tweets from @unseen1_unseen support former President Donald Trump of the United States to handle shared sentiments with the former president.

The handle criticised the media for blaming the ex-president for January 6, 2021 insurrection in Washington D.C.  It also lampooned Jim Acosta of CNN for criticising Trump’s claim that COVID-19 originated in China.

Donald Trump is a well-known disseminator of false information. Washington Post identified 30,573 Trump’s misleading claims in four years. Most of his supporters are known to spread some of his false information.

 

Hoaxy visualization produced @mitchellvii , @unseen1_unseen and @cofefe777as spreaders of a claim that aspirin, antibiotics ad anti-inflammatory drugs are cures for COVID-19
Hoaxy visualization produced @mitchellvii, @unseen1_unseen and @cofefe777as spreaders claiming that aspirin, antibiotics, and anti-inflammatory drugs are cures for COVID-19.

Another identified disseminator of the information is a Twitter account, @mitchellvii, which posted the same claim on August 12, 2020. This particular handle has spread the information mainly to a large number of Twitter users in a community. It is operated by Bill Mitchell, an American whose tweets support the Republican Party. In one of his posts, he casts aspersions on Liberals and immigrants in the United States. His tweets on immigration and COVID-19 are not different from Donald Trump’s.

However, the handle has been suspended by Twitter. It is not clear why the social networking service took that line of action.

One other major player visualised by Hoaxy is @cofefe777.  This account quoted another Twitter user, @knucklebuster80, on October 15, 2020, regarding a claim that “doctors rate Hydroxychloroquine ‘most effective’ coronavirus treatment.”

The account has, however, been suspended by Twitter. It is also not clear why Twitter has taken that step.

But Twitter often takes action against the spread of false or misleading information or, in this case, disinformation.  Trump’s tweets were once deleted, and his account later suspended by Twitter.

Covfefe or cofefe is a misspelling used by Donald Trump in a viral tweet in 2017. The meaning is not clear up to the moment.

All the three accounts are of American origin, not Russian, though the information was said to have emanated from the Eastern European country.

Did Russia claim that aspirin, antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs are the best cure for Covid-19?

Russia has taken unusual steps in handling COVID-19. In June 2020, barely six months after the virus broke out, Russia approved an anti-influenza drug, Aviifavir, for the treatment of COVID-19 and the country planned to start delivering it to hospitals that month.   In September, the country approved another drug, R-Pharm’s Coronavir, for treatment of outpatients with mild to moderate COVID-19 infections.

The information on aspirin, antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs being cures for COVID-19 was attributed to the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation.

However,  findings show that the ministry has not approved aspirin, anti-inflammatory drugs or antibiotics for COVID-19 treatment.

The reporter combs through the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation’s website, but there is no evidence that it supports or has approved the use of those drugs to treat COVID-19.

Russia’s support for the three sets of drugs is also not published in all the papers investigated online. Russia, in March 2021, debunked some of the accompanying claims, such as the assertions that COVID-19 was man-made and it did not exist.

Antibiotics
Credit: www.nps.org.au

How effective are aspirin, antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs for COVID-19 treatment?

A fact-check done by Reuters in April 2021 said symptoms of COVID-19 “can be treated with anticoagulants and anti-inflammatories, but antibiotics are not effective against the viral infection, and are only recommended for COVID-19 patients who also have a bacterial infection.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) guidance says the body has not recommended antibiotic therapy or prophylaxis for patients with mild or moderate COVID-19 unless signs and symptoms of a bacterial infection exist.

“Antibiotics cannot affect viruses,” a virologist, Bola Oyefolu, professor of virology at the Lagos State University (LASU), tells this reporter.

He says viruses are acellular and do not have enzymes that can digest food.

“If viruses infect a man, they would live in the body. They are like the military that appoints the best hands to man various government ministries,” he notes.

“They direct the enzymes to start digesting their own food. Thus, antibiotics cannot affect virus, but it is possible to prepare chemicals that can affect the virus. However, they have bad side effects.”

He concludes that it is false to claim that antibiotics can cure COVID-19 – a virus.

Medicals News, an online magazine, supports Oyefolu’s claim.

“Antibiotics do not treat viruses but are only effective against bacterial infections. People with COVID-19 may receive antibiotics to treat secondary bacterial infections,” the magazine says in one of its 2020 articles.

On aspirin, the WHO has not approved the drug for the treatment of COVID-19, but health researchers claim it can affect the virus.

A group of researchers surveyed 24 COVID-19 patients.

They found that mortality in the aspirin group was significantly lower than that in the non-aspirin group (P = .021 and P = .030, respectively).

A news magazine HealthDay News supports this claim, asserting that low-dose aspirin can shield people from COVID-19.

But a Nigerian trader Joy Ikonne claims that she used aspirin in March 2021 while suspecting COVID-19 infection – without conducting tests.

“I had terrible side effects such as abdominal pain, and I had heartache,” she says.

“I nearly died,” she added.

Biochemist Ife Azih, who has studied aspirin for over 30 years, tells this reporter that “aspirin in a minute concentration increases the body’s immunity.”  Azih explains that the mechanism of treating COVID-19 with aspirin is not yet known.

He warns Nigerians and the world against using drugs without doctors’ prescriptions.

“Do not use it if it is not approved; it can kill. And let nobody assume that aspirin is a cure for COVID-19,” he says.

So far, there is no approval for the use of aspirin to treat COVID-19.  The WHO and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the body regulating drug use in Nigeria, has not conducted clinical trials on aspirin and have only approved the AstraZeneca vaccine for prevention and treatment COVID-19.

On anti-inflammatory drugs, Harvard Medical School advises doctors to prescribe dexamethasone and other corticosteroids as potent drugs against the virus.

Oyefolu agrees, explaining that any anti-inflammatory drug can ginger an immune response.

“The body is hostile to anything foreign.        When there is something foreign in the system, the cells will send microphages – their first line of reaction,” he says.

“The microphages are like soldiers. They have strong enzymes that will tear those foreigners into pieces. Other cells in the body will produce antibodies,” he explains.

Anti-inflammatory drug
Credit: www.nationalelfservice.net

Researchers, however, say that “it is biologically plausible that anti-inflammatory therapy should be revisited or explored.”

They argue that “only safe and efficacious vaccines and antiviral drugs were possibly the final answers to the control of the new coronavirus pandemic.”

NAFDAC, on its part, has not approved aspirin, antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs for the treatment of COVID-19 in Nigeria.

“Clinical trial is not a thing one can handle casually; it requires guidance, supervision and experiment before approval so that it will not cause further damage,” NAFDAC’s Director-General Mojisola Adeyeye says.

“The trial is to determine whether it is actually working or not, after a sustained observation. NAFDAC is supposed to be the centre of the regulation of clinical trial effects,” she explains.

“Nobody can do any job of the clinical trial in the clinic or anywhere without passing through NAFDAC protocol,” she warns.

This publication was produced as part of IWPR’s Africa Resilience Network (ARN) programme, administered in partnership with the Centre for Information Resilience (CIR), the International Centre for Investigative Reporting  (ICIR), and Africa Uncensored. 

1...145146147...177Page 146 of 177