A renowned Ayurvedic practitioner, Borige Anandaiah in Andhra has developed a medicine for Covid-19 patients.

The Andhra Pradesh government on Monday formally approved the use of medicine made by Nellore based Ayurvedic Vaidya, Borige Anandiah to treat Covid-19 patients. While the government has allowed the herbal medicine to be distributed it has barred the distribution of eye drops form of the medicine which is said to boost Oxygen levels.

The Andhra government based its decision on the recommendations from the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences. The AYUSH Ministry is also conducting tests on the effectiveness and suitability of the said medicine.

The Andhra government has advised that people taking the said Ayurvedic medicine should take it along with the regular prescribed medicines for Covid-19. The chief minister had earlier ordered a comprehensive study of the medicine, which is made using turmeric, cumin, nutmeg, pepper, honey and other natural ingredients.

The herbal medicine prepared by Anandaiah is so popular that people from neighbouring villages gathered in huge numbers to get the medicines, prompting police to manage the crowds to avoid any stampedes. The Deccan Chronicle claims that the people of his village who used the medicine claim that it has cured Covid in the entire village. People genuinely believe that the medicine works as per reports.

Notably, the Vice President of India, Venkaiah Naidu who also hails from Nellore has asked the ICMR to collect samples of the herbal medicine from Nellore and conduct research on it.

Anandaiah has plans to reportedly prepare his herbal medicine for 75,000 Covid infected patients across Andhra Pradesh. The district administration has reportedly lent its support by arranging machine and material to pack the medicine in sachets.

Anandaiah has stated that he needs five days’ time to procure all the ingredients to start preparation of the herbal concoction.

The aim to officials is to supply the herbal medicine to 15,000 Covid patients in Nellore district and 5,000 infected patients in each district among the balance 12 districts of the state.

Reportedly, elaborate arrangements are being made to distribute the herbal medicine of Anandaiah of Krishnapatnam from Nellore to Covid-infected persons in Andhra Pradesh, to start with, and elsewhere later.

Permission has been sought on Wednesday to create an E-commerce platform, with a payment gateway, to enable those booking the medicine online to pay the postal/courier charges. For those booking the medicine online, the postal department and a private courier service are to deliver the medicine in rural areas and urban areas respectively.

The production venue has been shifted from the garden of Anandaiah in Krishnapatnam to CVR Foundation located in Krishnapatnam Port which is equipped with a huge kitchen and space to store the raw material.

Since honey is a main ingredient in the medicine, officials have arranged a tie-up with the Girijan Cooperative Corporation to supply large quantities of honey.

Similarly, the district forest officer has been asked to help Anandaiah secure different varieties of herbs being used in his concoction.

In Nellore district, the services of village and ward volunteers are to be utilised for delivery of the medicine to patients across the district after obtaining the list of patients in their areas of operation.

In case of other districts, the plan is to send the medicine to the collector for distribution in the area under his purview. The idea is to prevent people from coming to Krishnapatnam or Nellore for the medicine and avoid the spread of the disease.

The popularity and reported effectiveness of the herbal medicine raises questions on the bigoted rubbishing of Ayurvedic medicines as quackery by Indian Medical Association President, Johnrose Austin Jayalal who believes that only Chrisianity, Jesus and allopathic medicines are ‘pure science’.

News Source: Deccan Chronicle, India Today, Organiser. Image sourced from Organiser.

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