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Good riddance of bad tonic

12 Aug 2021

As time passes by, the world learns more and more things about the pandemic that has wreaked havoc on the people, and the lessons we learn are not always about what to do; sometimes, they are about what not to do. Rectifying a mistake they made, the authorities have revoked the temporary license granted to the infamous “Dhammika Paniya”, manufactured by Dhammika Bandara who claimed to be an Ayurvedic/indigenous medical practitioner. The Ayurveda Department revealed this week that the temporary license was granted to experiment the so-called medicinal tonic, and that since the product did not pass clinical trials, a decision was arrived at to revoke the license. The effectiveness of the Dhammika Paniya was not the most worrying part of the discussion revolving around this medicine. Persons of rank and influence, including the country’s Health Minister and a number of Parliamentarians, endorsed it and came forward to taste the first few samples, giving the people a wrong and detrimental idea that the Dhammika Paniya concoction, or similar unproven medicines, can be an effective cure for Covid-19. All this happened on Bandara’s word, with no certification from the authorities or independent experts. However, the Dhammika Paniya did not result in anything special or constructive, but in severe congestion and long queues in front of Bandara’s house which itself could have created a new Covid-19 cluster, while the very same Health Minister, not long after consuming the syrup, contracted Covid-19. Getting rid of the Dhammika Paniya is a progressive achievement; however, to win as a country, we should prevent the recurrence of such by making sure that the authorities employ stringent criteria when testing such products in the future, and by raising awareness among the people to not fall prey to quacks in their quest for easy and fast cures. However, we have to understand that taking legal and/or policy action against those who are manufacturing and promoting unproven Covid-19 medicines without approval from the authorities is merely one aspect of this issue. In fact, thwarting the manufacture and promotion of such products is not the main challenge the authorities should focus on. The biggest challenge is addressing the people’s tendency to seek and accept these medicines out of doubts about the vaccine, or Western medicine, as colloquial language puts it. This issue is a very real one. According to a vox populi conducted by The Morning early this year following the launch of the vaccination drive, in a bid to learn more about misconceptions that discourage people from getting vaccinated, there are people who labour under the impression that consuming traditional home remedies more often is sufficient to protect against Covid-19. More worryingly, there are also people who have harboured baseless doubts and fears about the vaccine, especially about the composition and potential side effects. It should also be noted that the categorisation of medicines as Western and Ayurvedic/indigenous – instead of proven and unproven medicines – is one of the loopholes quacks use to promote their products. At a time when the country is struggling to not only vaccinate the people, but also to find and encourage those who have refused and/or have had no opportunity to get vaccinated despite being eligible, the health authorities should address why people choose miracles over science. Even though what the authorities can do is limited, they can do a lot, especially when it comes to raising awareness among the people, which is already happening as part of their efforts to find the unvaccinated. The Dhammika Paniya saga has come to an end, and so should the Sri Lankan tendency to choose superstitions and pseudoscience over science. The people’s responsibility to learn from mistakes, and not jeopardise their and their loved one’s health, cannot be ignored.  


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