THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The pro-homoeopathy stance of Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja to boost the immunity of people has triggered a controversy in the state with the Indian Medical Association criticising the minister in strong terms for endorsing the medicine for preventing Covid-19 infection and forcing her to retract her statement later.
However, a white paper issued by the Chinese government revealed that 92 per cent of the Covid patients in that country were given traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), which is similar to ayurveda in India.
Former Indian diplomat Muraleedharan Nair, who was member of a team which recently studied the origin and transmission of SARS-CoV-2 that causes Covid-19 in China, told TNIE, “China has not only given TCM to Covid patients to cure them now, it had also given the same medicine to patients when SARS was first reported in 2003 and H1N1 in 2009. The medicine proved effective in curing the patients then. This has encouraged China to give its traditional medicine to Covid patients,” he said.
Muraleedharan, who had spent over 10 years as part of India’s diplomatic mission in China, said the white paper released by the State Council Information Office in Beijing on June 7 revealed that traditional Chinese medicine was used in treating 92 per cent of all confirmed cases across the country. A set of TCM diagnosis and treatment protocols were developed to cover the entire process of medical observation, treatment of mild, moderate, severe and critical cases, and recovery, and they have been applied nationwide.
In Hubei, the Chinese province which was hit the hardest by Covid-19, more than 90 per cent of confirmed patients received TCM treatment that proved effective and over 3,000 patients over the age of 80 years, including seven centenarians, got cured, the white paper said. The Chinese government has also been exporting TCM to various African, Asian and Latin American countries to fight Covid.
“In China, the TCM has been integrated into their MBBS programme and allopathic doctors also prescribe traditional medicines and herbs for various diseases in China. They have been sourcing herbs and plants even from India for making these medicines. It’s very sad to note that ayurveda, which has more legacy than TCM in treating various ailments in India over the centuries, and other alternative medicines are not effectively used or integrated with modern medicine here for treating the patients,” said Muraleedharan.