Put an end to Andhra Pradesh 'medicine' tamasha
A strange spectacle unfolded recently at Krishnapatnam in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh. Thousands of people, including an unknown number of Covid patients, queued up to receive so-called herbal medicines prepared by Anandaiah, a local medical practitioner with no qualifications except claims of knowledge inherited from ancestors. He boasts his medicines, which include eye drops as well, could cure corona patients. A startled state government swung into action and police dispersed the crowds but not before the word had spread like wildfire.
First of all, it was surprising that so many made it to Krishnapatnam, many even from hospital beds, right under the nose of the district administration at a time when Section 144 and partial curfew were in force. Apparently, local politicians hyped up the event, relegating officials to the background. But the matter did not end there. Subsequently, the government roped in experts from the AYUSH ministry and ICMR to evaluate Anandaiah’s bizarre preparations and the man himself moved the High Court seeking permission to let him administer the medicines. The upshot of all this was that the government finally gave the green signal to three of his medicines after finding that they had no side-effects but ignoring the opinion of Ayurvedic experts that Anandaiah’s alleged cure has nothing much to do with Ayurveda. The district administration has now decided to supply the medicines online. Should people like Anandaiah be allowed to distribute medicines that obviously do not have any scientific basis? Should the government waste its precious time and resources on this? Hundreds of patients who took the medicine are still in hospital; there is not a single case of complete recovery following the consumption of these medicines.
The state government ought to have stopped supply of this alleged cure instead of giving its nod. Many patients, who are afraid of going to hospital, are very likely to believe in the unproven efficacy of Anandaiah’s concoctions until it is too late. Allowing the man to continue to distribute the medicine is counter-productive. At least now, the government should turn a deaf ear to politicians of all hues and put an end to the tamasha.