Herbs, cow dung and urine passed off as wonder drugs in Covid-hit India
23/05/2021 - 14:31
Cow dung has many uses in South Asia, including for heating, cooking or Hindu ritual fires. But medical experts in India say there is no proof that dung and urine from the sacred animal can work against Covid-19. AP - B.K. Bangash
Roads to Krishnapatnam village in Andhra Pradesh state were packed with some 40,000 people, including Covid patients on oxygen support, keen to get their hands on a concoction touted as a miracle Covid-19 treatment.
Police were called in to break up the gatherings and pressed charges against a man handing out herbals that he said would "help Covid patients out of the death bed in no time”.
The Times of India daily said local Covid care centres posted low attendance as people rushed to the seaside village last week.
The melee followed a separate prescription advised by Pragya Thakur, a parliamentarian from India’s ruling party.
“I consumed cow urine daily and it is a kind of acid which purifies my body,” the MP told supporters in her home constituency of Bhopal. “It purifies the lungs and saves me from Covid-19 infection."
Experts urged politicians to practice restraint. “These leaders should stop recommending unscientific treatments,” said Ranjan Sharma of the Indian Medical Association (IMA).
The number of Covid infections in India shot past 26 million on Sunday, largely due to a second wave which is blamed on several factors: a religious festival, a spate of elections, the government’s tardy response to the pandemic and vaccine shortages.
Experts say the combination of all four also encouraged fraudsters and self-styled healers to offer their dubious services laced with bizarre medications.
Dileswar Mahto, one such unlicensed physician ran a flourishing village health clinic near Ranchi, state capital of Jharkhand.
“I can cure Covid patients in 48 hours,” Mahto was quoted as boasting in Jurga village. He claimed 60 people with mild coronavirus symptoms he treated had returned to health.
Officials said charlatans such as Mahto were “aggravating the problems” in tribal-majority Jharkhand, which has so far reported 327,000 infections and 4,760 deaths.
“We arrest such people and seize whatever junk they are selling as cure,” a health department official said from Ranchi.
But in the heart of the capital Delhi, healer Radha Kant Vats has seen a crush of residents at his cow shelter seeking his concoction made from dung, urine, curd and butter to boost immunity.
Yoga guru’s prognosis
India’s billionaire yoga guru Ramdev ran into legal trouble after he reportedly called “allopathy a stupid science" and that modern medicines killed thousands during the pandemic.
IMA has sought an apology and said his comments were designed to scare people into buying a cocktail he sold as a cure.
Ramdev’s household products firm Patanjali asserted the yoga guru was only reading out a forwarded WhatsApp message.
Medical warning
Photographs from Gujarat state showed people smearing themselves with a mix of cow dung and urine and later washing it off with milk in the belief the exercise boosted immunity against the virus.
Cows are revered as holy in Hinduism but medical experts said the therapy could spread diseases from animals to humans.
“There is no scientific proof that cow dung and urine works against coronavirus,” IMA’s national president J.A. Jayalal said as he warned off the possible risks.
“Also, crowds gathering at cow shelters to collect dung and urine can lead to the spread of the virus,” he added.
23/05/2021 - 14:31
Cow dung has many uses in South Asia, including for heating, cooking or Hindu ritual fires. But medical experts in India say there is no proof that dung and urine from the sacred animal can work against Covid-19. AP - B.K. Bangash
Roads to Krishnapatnam village in Andhra Pradesh state were packed with some 40,000 people, including Covid patients on oxygen support, keen to get their hands on a concoction touted as a miracle Covid-19 treatment.
Police were called in to break up the gatherings and pressed charges against a man handing out herbals that he said would "help Covid patients out of the death bed in no time”.
The Times of India daily said local Covid care centres posted low attendance as people rushed to the seaside village last week.
The melee followed a separate prescription advised by Pragya Thakur, a parliamentarian from India’s ruling party.
“I consumed cow urine daily and it is a kind of acid which purifies my body,” the MP told supporters in her home constituency of Bhopal. “It purifies the lungs and saves me from Covid-19 infection."
Experts urged politicians to practice restraint. “These leaders should stop recommending unscientific treatments,” said Ranjan Sharma of the Indian Medical Association (IMA).
The number of Covid infections in India shot past 26 million on Sunday, largely due to a second wave which is blamed on several factors: a religious festival, a spate of elections, the government’s tardy response to the pandemic and vaccine shortages.
Experts say the combination of all four also encouraged fraudsters and self-styled healers to offer their dubious services laced with bizarre medications.
Dileswar Mahto, one such unlicensed physician ran a flourishing village health clinic near Ranchi, state capital of Jharkhand.
“I can cure Covid patients in 48 hours,” Mahto was quoted as boasting in Jurga village. He claimed 60 people with mild coronavirus symptoms he treated had returned to health.
Officials said charlatans such as Mahto were “aggravating the problems” in tribal-majority Jharkhand, which has so far reported 327,000 infections and 4,760 deaths.
“We arrest such people and seize whatever junk they are selling as cure,” a health department official said from Ranchi.
But in the heart of the capital Delhi, healer Radha Kant Vats has seen a crush of residents at his cow shelter seeking his concoction made from dung, urine, curd and butter to boost immunity.
Yoga guru’s prognosis
India’s billionaire yoga guru Ramdev ran into legal trouble after he reportedly called “allopathy a stupid science" and that modern medicines killed thousands during the pandemic.
IMA has sought an apology and said his comments were designed to scare people into buying a cocktail he sold as a cure.
Ramdev’s household products firm Patanjali asserted the yoga guru was only reading out a forwarded WhatsApp message.
Medical warning
Photographs from Gujarat state showed people smearing themselves with a mix of cow dung and urine and later washing it off with milk in the belief the exercise boosted immunity against the virus.
Cows are revered as holy in Hinduism but medical experts said the therapy could spread diseases from animals to humans.
“There is no scientific proof that cow dung and urine works against coronavirus,” IMA’s national president J.A. Jayalal said as he warned off the possible risks.
“Also, crowds gathering at cow shelters to collect dung and urine can lead to the spread of the virus,” he added.
