Homeopathic drug given to half of Gujarat population since Mar

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat health department has said it distributed homeopathic drug Arsenicum Album-30 to more than half of the state's population as prophylaxis since March after the outbreak of COVID-19. In its presentation made before the World Health Organisation on August 20 on Gujarat's COVID-19 prevention strategy, the health department said it distributed Arsenicum Album-30 to 3.48 crore people, which is more than half of the state's population of 6.6 crore.

There is no scientific evidence that the drug works against COVID-19, a fact stressed not only by medical scientists but by some homeopathic practitioners themselves.

The state government also claimed that 99.6 per cent of people who availed AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy) remedies as prophylaxis during their quarantine period tested negative for coronavirus.

In its presentation, which was shared with the media, the health department said "AYUSH interventions have proven to be immunity boosters, and the AYUSH treatment protocol was developed and a research carried out for assessing efficacy of treatment."

"As many as 33,268 people benefited from AYUSH medicines in the quarantine period, half of whom availed homoeopathic medicines," it said.

The state government claimed that 99.69 per cent of people who availed AYUSH remedies as prophylaxis during their quarantine period tested negative for coronavirus.

However, a clinical trial related to the prophylaxis nature of Arsenicum Album-30 for coronavirus in the state has not yet yielded any conclusive result, an official said.

Gujarat Principal Secretary, Health, Jayanti Ravi on Sunday said the government has some reason to believe about theefficacy of Arsenicum Album-30 medicine, as out of thousands of quarantined people who were given the dosage of Arsenicum Album-30, "99.69 per cent eventually tested negative for coronavirus". The government has so far distributed 3.48 crore dosages of Arsenicum Album-30 starting March, including repeat dosages as the medicine remains effective for 1.5 to two months, she said.

Meanwhile, with the addition of 1,101 new coronavirus positive cases on Sunday, Gujarat's COVID-19 count climbed to 86,779, the state health department said.

The death toll in the state reached 2,897 as 14 patients succumbed to the infection during the day, it said.