Midnapore Homoeopathic Medical College and Hospital will start distributing Arsenicum Album 30 from its OPD 

Apart from general preventive measures of taking a balanced diet and inculcating hygienic practices, the advisory recommends one dose of Arsenic Album 30 for three days in a row on an empty stomach as a prophylactic medicine against coronavirus infections. 

Biswabrata Goswami

MIDNAPORE, 8 MAY: As per directives of the Central Council of Homoeopathy (CCH), the Midnapore Homoeopathic Medical College and Hospital (MHMCH) is all set to distribute the Arsenicum Album 30 from its outpatient department as preventive of the Covid-19.

Prof. Srimanta Saha, administrator and principal-in-charge of MHMCH said, “We will also distribute the medicine across the Midnapore municipality area. The distribution will start from ward number 12.”

Even as most people continue to scramble for masks and sanitizers to protect themselves from the Covid-19 infection, homeopathic doctors claim that many have been demanding Arsenicum Album 30 from them, a homeopathic tincture that the AYUSH ministry claims can successfully prevent individuals from catching the infection.

“A lot of people have been texting and calling me asking whether taking Aresenicum Album is a sure shot preventive measure for the disease,” says Dr Chanchal Mondol, a Homoeopathic practitioner in Midnapore town. The demand for this particular medicine comes after a widely circulated and controversial advisory from the AYUSH ministry was published on 29 January.

Apart from general preventive measures of taking a balanced diet and inculcating hygienic practices, the advisory recommends one dose of Arsenic Album 30 for three days in a row on an empty stomach as a prophylactic medicine against coronavirus infections. 

Excerpts from the advisory have also been circulated via WhatsApp, claiming that Homeopathy offers a cure for coronavirus even as modern medicine has been struggling to produce an effective cure. Since then, the AYUSH ministry has also produced a clarification that they never claimed Arsenicum Album 30 could treat the virus, but issued the advisory in a “general context”.

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“In homeopathy, medicines are prescribed on the basis of particular medicines. Arsenicum is a medicine that does combat particular viral infections, but it can be recommended only if someone shows a particular set of symptoms, it is not to be taken without the presence of these symptoms,” explains Dr Mondol.

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He also said there is no particular treatment for coronavirus in homeopathy, just as there is no specific treatment for the virus developed in any other field of medicine. It is just a general advisory given by the AYUSH ministry since the coronavirus epidemic has become such a cause for concern. 

In Kolkata, D N De Homoeopathic Medical College and Hospital and The Calcutta Homoeopathic Medical College and Hospital have already started distributing Arsenicum Album 30, a prophylactic medicine and immunity booster for the people residing in the Covid-19 affected areas of Tangra, Narkeldanga, Maniktala and Rajabazar.

In Midnapore, the MHMCH will start distributing the medicine from Monday, said Prof Saha.