No, Amref Africa boss did not promote a ‘tomato method’ cure for diabetes
IN SHORT: A viral Facebook video falsely claims that the chief executive of Amref Africa, Dr Githinji Gitahi, has discovered a “tomato method” to stabilise blood sugar permanently. But the video is a deepfake using AI to misrepresent him.
A Facebook video shows a prominent Kenyan doctor seemingly promoting a “tomato method” that allegedly stabilises blood sugar permanently. The 10-minute video has him speaking for the first 96 seconds.
The video’s headline reads: “Use this tomato method to stabilize blood sugar levels permanently below 5 mmol/L.”
In the footage, Dr Githinji Gitahi sits on a black couch against a white wall, speaking directly to the camera. He is the chief executive of Amref Health Africa, an NGO working in over 35 African countries to strengthen health systems and improve access to care.
At the beginning of the video, he says: “In the morning, use one tomato if your blood sugar exceeds five. If your sugar is unstable, stay with me until the end because in one minute, I will give you a recipe that will eliminate diabetes at home in just 30 seconds.”
The speech continues, claiming that over 110,000 Kenyans have defeated type 2 diabetes in just 17 days thanks to “one simple action in the morning”.
But he doesn’t give the said recipe. Instead, he urges viewers to click to watch a free three-minute clip before the “recipe turns into an expensive elixir”.
The video has over 87,000 views.
The context
Diabetes is a chronic condition characterised by high blood sugar levels due to the body’s inability to either produce enough insulin or to use it effectively.
The video claims Dr Gitahi and his team have found a way to eliminate diabetes in 30 seconds using tomatoes, and that viewers must act fast before the information disappears.
But is this claim true? We checked.
Video is a deepfake scam
Several red flags immediately show that this is a health scam. It promotes a method that can supposedly cure diabetes in 30 seconds. Additionally, it uses pressure tactics, warning viewers that access to the secret method will “disappear in 15 minutes”.
If a reputable medical expert like Dr Gitahi had discovered a real cure for diabetes, it would have followed proper scientific procedures, undergone rigorous testing, and been announced by health organisations, government agencies, and the media worldwide. It would not have been a limited-time offer on social media.
The video looks convincing because Dr Gitahi’s voice sounds authentic, and his lip movements match his words. But this is because the video was created using deepfake technology. Deepfakes use artificial intelligence (AI) to make someone appear to say something they never actually said.
This technique often involves taking an existing video, then using AI tools to replace the original audio with fake speech and manipulating lip movements to match the speech.
To debunk this, we searched YouTube for videos of Dr Gitahi and found the original one used to create this deepfake. It was uploaded in 2019. In it, Dr Gitahi addressed Amref Africa staff about a training course on ethics, fraud prevention, and anti-corruption policies. He did not promote a diabetes cure.
This confirms that the Facebook video is a deepfake, created to mislead viewers and lure them into clicking suspicious links, which will likely lead to fake products or scams.
The claim that Dr Gitahi is promoting a tomato cure for diabetes is entirely false. The video is a deepfake scam.
