December 2007

We are often asked whether visitors to the Tropics can take Artemisia tea as a prophylaxis against malaria. The answer is not simple, so please read the following carefully:

A. Tourists:

Please do not ask anamed for any sort of medical advice. This is not our business. Please consult your national tropical institute for advice on malaria prophylaxis for the countries you plan to visit. anamed is an organisation that provides expertise in Natural Medicine for healing work that is based in the Tropics, not for holiday makers. Please remember that, for legal reasons, the doctors in the institute can only follow the guidelines of the World Health Organisation, and not tell you what he would in fact take himself.

If, as a tourist, you would like to make a positive contribution to the country that you visit, please buy our books, posters and even an artemisia -starter kit, and give them to a hospital or organisations that are providing health-care.

B: Development workers:

• The word "Prophylaxis" is often misunderstood: Even with the best prophylaxis, one may still catch malaria.
• The regulations concerning pharmaceuticals forbid us from selling a non-registered drug as a means of prophylaxis.
• To avoid any legal problems, we do not supply artemisia as a medicine for prophylaxis.
• Some scientists say that artemisia tea cannot work as a prophylaxis because of the short half-life of about only 2 hours of what is considered to be the main active ingredient, artemisinin.
• Nonetheless, some anamed co-workers have found that, by taking artemisia tea regularly, they have almost never contracted malaria. This may be due to the other nine anti-malarial constituents, or some other as yet unknown effect.
• Development workers, health workers or missionaries who wish to try this tea should proceed as follows: Pour one cup (200ml) of boiling water over about 1,5 g of dried Artemisia annua anamed (about one teaspoonful) every morning before breakfast; after breakfast, filter and drink this tea.
• Children should take less, according to their bodyweight. Those who cannot drink this bitter tea should takes the same amount of leaves, pulverise them, and every morning mix 1,5 g of this powder with some yoghurt or honey.
• Please start with this on the day of arrival, take daily whilst abroad, and continue for at least 3 weeks after returning home.
• If you do catch malaria, take 5 g of artemisia for 7 days as described in our documentation (order number 204). In addition, you must always carry with you a conventional medicine such as Quinine, Doxycyclin or Fansidar. You should take this in addition to the artemisia tea.
• Now calculate how much artemisia you need. For example, for 4 weeks travel: 4 weeks plus 3 weeks afterwards = 7 weeks x 7 days x 1,5 g Artemisia gives around 75 g. In case you do catch malaria, you need an additional 35 g. This gives a total of 110 g. Please therefore order 3 packages of 50 g.
• However please consider that wherever you are, people will ask: What are you drinking? Can I try? Do you have more for my dying child.....
• When you do order artemisia tea from us, please order also the malaria documentation (Order nr. 204 in English, 202 in German, 203 in French...). This provides you with all the information you could possibly need, and saves you from having to ask unnecessary questions.
• In order to cause us no legal problems, please order as follows:
  "Please supply the Artemisia documentation in...(language and order number) together with...... sachets of 50 g of tea of Artemisia annua anamed, order number 411, as raw material, not medicine".
• After you return home, please give us feedback about your positive or negative experiences with artemisia tea.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

Martin Hirt / Keith Lindsey