New Delhi, Feb 22: Amidst a new controversy surrounding Patanjali’s claim of an ayurveda-based Covid19 treatment, the World Health Organization has clarified that it has not certified any traditional medicine for Covid19 treatment.
In a tweet on Sunday, the WHO South-East Asia wrote, “WHO has not reviewed or certified the effectiveness of any traditional medicine for the treatment of COVID-19”.
The statement came after, at the launch event of Coronil kit, Patanjali said, “Coronil has received the Certificate of Pharmaceutical Product (CoPP) from the Ayush section of Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation as per the WHO certification scheme.”
Yoga guru Ramdev’s ‘Coronail kit’, which sparked massive debate over its efficacy to prevent coronavirus last year, has once again run into controversy. Although this time the AYUSH ministry has approved Patanjali Ayurved’s Coronil for the treatment of coronavirus, the World Health Organisation has sidelined itself.
This meant the Coronil kit, which comprises three kinds of different ayurvedic medicines, holds a certificate of a pharmaceutical product (CoPP) and is recognised by the World Health Organisation’s Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP). Both these standards define quality assurance in medicinal products.
Under the CoPP, Coronil can now be exported to 158 countries, Patanjali claimed.
Besides, in the grand launch event, where Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan and Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari were also present, the product was billed by the company as the “first evidence-based medicine for COVID-19”.
Now as the WHO rejected the claims, Patanjali CEO Acharya Balkrishna has made a clarification on Twitter. He wrote, “We want to clarify to avoid confusion that our WHO GMP compliant COPP certificate to Coronil is issued by DCGI, Government of India”.
Balkrishna also added that “WHO does not approve or disapprove any drugs. Instead, it works for building better and healthier future for people all over the world”.