The Ministry of AYUSH listed a homoeopathic drug, Arsenicum album 30 among prophylactic (preventive) medicine against Covid-19.
On several states recommending it, concerns are being raised from various circles.
What is Arsenicum album?
Arsenicum album is considered to correct inflammation in body.
It takes care of diarrhoea, cough and cold.
It is used commonly by homeopaths to treat anxiety, restlessness, cold, ulcerations, burning pains, etc.
Arsenicum album is made by heating arsenic with distilled water.
The process is repeated several times over 3 days.
Arsenicum album is taken in powder form or as a tablet.
A small bottle with one course costs Rs 20-30.
What was the recommendation made?
In January 2020, the Scientific Advisory Board of the Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy (CCRH) opined on the drug.
Accordingly, Arsenicum album 30 could be taken as prophylactic medicine against Coronavirus infections.
The CCRH released a fact sheet stating this medicine is only a “possible prevention” against flu.
Soon, the AYUSH Ministry recommended taking the medicine for 3 days on an empty stomach.
The dose is advised to be repeated after a month if COVID-19 outbreak continues locally.
Recently, the Ministry released another notification with “preventive and prophylactic simple remedies” against Covid-19-like illness.
Among them, it listed Arsenicum album 30 as a homeopathic solution.
Homeopathy has reportedly been used for prevention during the epidemic of cholera, Spanish influenza, yellow fever, scarlet fever, diphtheria, typhoid, etc.
How prevalent is its use now?
Arsenicum album 30 has been recommended by some state governments.
These include Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.
The Maharashtra government is yet to take a formal decision.
But the Mumbai civic authorities have been distributing the drug to high-risk populations in at least two wards.
The Haryana prisons department and Mumbai police too are also distributing the drug to prisoners and officers respectively.
Even in states that have no protocol for using the drug against Covid-19, people are reportedly getting to homeopathic clinics to buy the drug.
Even local chemists have started stocking this medicine.
The Central Drug Standard Control Organisation recently issued a notification in this regard.
It allowed private practitioners to try alternative remedies like Ayurveda and homoeopathy to treat Covid-19.
What are the concerns?
It is said that Arsenicum album has less than 1% arsenic.
But the health hazards of arsenic contamination in water are well known.
Long-term exposure to the metal can cause skin cancer, pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases.
There is no scientific evidence that the drug works against Covid-19.
The Ayush Ministry has based its recommendation on existing use of the medicine for respiratory illness and influenza.
Several homeopaths themselves point out that each individual reacts differently to homeopathic medicines.
Certainly, one medicine cannot be universally held as a prophylactic for all; it can only be a part of the treatment, if at all.
Maharashtra - The Maharashtra government has set up a task-force in this regard.
This is to evaluate the homoeopathic drug and decide whether it should be used against Covid-19.
The members however remain undecided yet.
But, Maharashtra is allowing the drug’s use as an immunity booster, like vitamin C tablets.
It was not encouraging it as a prophylactic.
There is no scientific evidence that it works as prophylactic, and it is not being encouraged universally for everyone.
Is it rightful to use an untested drug?
A recommendation made by an expert committee in the WHO during the 2014 Ebola outbreak is worth mentioning here.
It said that it was 'ethical' to offer unproven interventions with as yet unknown efficacy and adverse effects, as potential preventive treatment.
This was keeping in view that no vaccine or anti-virals were available.
But the WHO has no guidelines on using Arsenicum album as a Covid-19 treatment either.
Notably, the ICMR too has not issued any guidelines regarding the medicine.
In all, the AYUSH Ministry could have conducted trials to assess the efficacy of the drug before recommending it.
