So far, no single treatment has been approved that will protect us from COVID-19.
While the world races to make vaccines to tackle the disease, several drugs are being repurposed to fight the disease. But where do homeopathy drugs stand?
Rajiv Bajaj, managing director of Bajaj Auto, recently claimed in an interview that homeopathy medicine Camphora 1M may help in protecting from COVID 19 and should be considered for treatment.
He further said that "3 lakh people in Pune took Camphora 1M, and not one of them has come to us saying they have symptoms of COVID-19"
Now several social media posts are claiming the benefits of Camphora 1M:
According to this report, CRPF jawans in Jharkhand are being given Arsenic Album and Camphora 1M to boost their immunity against COVID-19.
According to a report in The Hindu, Maharashtra police has distributed homeopathy medicines like Camphora 1M for protection. The police has clarified that this is being given as immunity boosters and they are aware that there are no conclusive studies to prove the efficacy of homeopathy medicines against COVID-19.
True or False?
Can Camphora 1M work in treatment of COVID-19?
In an interview with Boom, director general of Central Council for Research in Homeopathy, Dr Anil Khurana had said, "The Camphor that Dr Sankaran advised to Rajiv Bajaj, Dr Sankaran is working in Prana Hospital run by Rajiv Bajaj. He actually treated few cases in Iran, he himself did not treat, he suggested medicine to some doctor in Iran. And those were the cases who were actually suffering and were hospitalized, they were also taking antiviral drugs at that point of time. And I have seen those case records, there is no denying that Camphor might have helped them because I cannot right now conclude with just 8-11 cases that this medicine has worked. We have to have a big sample size and there should be a control group on the other side."
A homeopathy expert in Delhi told us, "The data used is doubtful. All claimed cures were either untested or also treated with allopathy including hospitalisation and ventilator use. As such, basing a protective effect on this information is dangerous."
Rajiv Bajaj himself admitted in that interview that the Indian Council For Medical Research (ICMR) has not permitted the use of Camphora in COVID patients. As a result, a double-blind random trial is not possible, where some people are given the medicine and some are not. A double-blind trial is essential for scientific approach.
Does Camphora 1M work as a prophylactic?
So far, there is no scientific proof that Camphora 1M can protect us from COVID 19.
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