Madagascar has not quit the World Health Organization

A viral news report claims that the president of Madagascar, Andry Rajoelina, has withdrawn has country’s members of the World Health Organization (WHO) and urged other African countries to quit too.

According to the news report, President Rajoelina made the statement in an exclusive interview with France24 and RFI.

“Africa has found a medicine against Coronavirus but Europe thinks they have a monopoly of intelligence as such they are refusing to acknowledge it. It is against this backdrop that I invite all African Nations to quit the international organizations in order for us to build ours,” President Rajoelina allegedly said in the interview according to one of the websites reporting the supposed membership withdrawal.

Fact-checkghana.com has verified the claim of the viral news report and concludes it’s completely false

Explanation: Madagascar has been at the center of global attention after announcing that it has developed a cure for COVID-19 called COVID-Organics (CVO).

The announcement has been met with skepticism even at the level of global health body, the World Health Organization (WHO) with many experts cautioning against the use of the product on the basis that it has not be adequately tested to guarantee its safety and efficacy.

The President of Madagascar, Andry Rajoelina has publicly lashed out at critics of the product as he continues to make cartons of CVO available to some African countries.

Andry Rajoelina in an interview with France 24’s Marc Perelman and Christophe Boisbouvier of RFI on Tuesday May 12, 2020 expressed frustration over the level of skepticism being shown at the product and criticized some of the experts speaking against it.

In the 16-minute long interview which has since been published on France24’s YouTube channel, the president did not mention at any point that Madagascar is withdrawing from the WHO as claimed by some news reports.

He also never indicated in the interview that African countries should withdraw their WHO membership.

Our checks reveal that the false information came as a result of some websites copying quotes accurately attributed to the President Rajoelina in the publication by France24 and lacing it with untrue quotes such as:

“Africa has found a medicine against Coronavirus but Europe thinks they have a monopoly of intelligence as such they are refusing to acknowledge it. It is against this backdrop that I invite all African Nations to quit the international organizations in order for us to build ours,” and “My country Madagascar leaves all the organizations tonight and I call on other African Nations to do same”.

Further checks

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) country representative for Madagascar, Dr Charlotte Ndiaye, has also denied the alleged withdrawal of Madagascar from the WHO.

In a phone interview with her, she said, "no it is not true. It is a fake news.” Again in a follow-up email, she said the claim is false.