WHO clarifies it hasn't reviewed or certified Coronil for Covid-19 treatment

The World Health Organization (WHO) clarified in a tweet that it has not reviewed or certified the efficacy of Patanjali’s Covid-19 vaccine.

This comes as Patanjali Ayurved claimed that its Coronil medicine, which was earlier vouched as an immunity booster, received certification from Ayush Ministry as per WHO’s certification scheme.

WHO’s regional office for South-East Asia posted on its official Twitter handle, “@WHO has not reviewed or certified the effectiveness of any traditional medicine for the treatment #Covid19.”

Patanjali Ayurveda managing director Acharya Balkrishna also took to Twitter and revealed that the Goods Manufacturing Practice (GMP) compliant Certificate of Pharmaceutical Product (CPP) to Coronil has been given by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), as per previous reports.

More

Patanjali’s Coronil gets Ayush Ministry certification as per WHO scheme

“It is clear that WHO does not approve or disapprove any drugs,” Balkrishna’s tweet added. He further stated that Patanjali was "clarifying to avoid confusion."

On Friday, Patanjali had claimed that its Coronil is the first of its kind 'evidence-based' medicine that can protect people from coronavirus.

The launch of Coronil was attended by union health minister Harsh Vardhan and transport minister Nitin Gadkari in the presence of Patanjali Ayurved promoter Baba Ramdev.

"Coronil has received the Certificate of Pharmaceutical Product (CoPP) from the Ayush section of Central Drugs Standard Control Organization as per the WHO certification scheme," Patanjali had announced in a statement.

The company had further claimed that under the Certificate of Pharmaceutical Product (CoPP), Coronil can be exported to 158 countries.

It had also stated that the Ministry of Ayush has recognized Coronil as a “supporting measure in Covid-19.”

Earlier in July 2020, the company had made claims that its vaccine could provide strong protection against the coronavirus. Later, the Ayush Ministry released a statement stating that Coronil can be sold only as an immunity booster and not as a cure.