NEW DELHI – Indian Guru Ramdev said the remedy would be available from nextweek through his lucrative Patanjali Ayurved company, claiming it was 100percent successful on nearly 300 test patients.
The ubiquitous conpany is worth several hundred million dollars, sellingeverything from toothpaste to jeans. It is a major player in a vast Indianconsumer goods market of 1.3 billion people.
Speaking at his company’s headquarters in Haridwar, saffron-robed Ramdevsaid that “Coronil” and “Swasari” could cure coronavirus in a week.
“Some 280 patients were included in the clinical trials and 100 per centrecovered,” he claimed. Sixty-nine percent recovered in three days and restwithin seven, he told reporters.
He said the trials were conducted in association with the NationalInstitute of Medical Sciences but did not specify whether they receivedapproval from India’s drug authority.
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However, the Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha andHomoeopathy (AYUSH) said Tuesday it had asked the firm for more details andtold it not to advertise its claims until they were examined.
Ayurvedic medicines have been used for centuries in India but Ramdev — whohas a yoga TV channel despite saying he lives an ascetic life — has tappedinto booming demand since creating his firm in 2006.
Modi, who is currently battling a surge in coronavirus with almost 450,000cases and almost 15,000 deaths, last week suggested that yoga could helpcreate a “protective shield” against the coronavirus. – APP/AFP
