In Thailand, to fight against COVID-19, authorities bet on this plant
While the 3rd wave of coronavirus in Thailand is stronger than the first 2 ones which had been very well contained, the authorities, among the measures to fight agains COVID-19 in the country has decided to bet on a plant already widely used in traditional medicine and which has shown positive results especially for treating the first symptoms and preventing from developing serious conditions.
Can fatalaijone cure COVID-19 ?
The Thai Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) has handed over more than 600,000 fatalai djon (ฟ้า ทะลาย โจร) capsules which could translate as “green chiretta” to its affiliated hospitals across the country to treat patients with Covid19 and showing mild symptoms.
“FFatalaijone possesses the ability to suppress virus expansion among patients with mild symptoms. Yet it must be used along with modern medicines.” said Thai Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.
“Most patients were getting better and above all, they have shown no side effects after taking this traditional herbal medicine” did he add.
The use of this traditional medicine will be supervised by the Department of Traditional and Alternative Medicine of Thailand (DTAM) under the Ministry of Health authority. A department which, I believe does not exist in many western countries.
The 600,000 pills should be enough to treat 15,000 patients, the ministry said.
Wat is fatalaijone ?
Known under the name of fatalai djon (ฟ้า ทะลาย โจร) and already used in Thailand in traditional medicine, Andrographis paniculata from its botanical name, is a plant of the acanthaceae family native to India and Sri Lanka . It is also prescribed in Ayurvedic medicine to treat fever or as an anti-diarrhea. It is said to have anti-inflammatory, immunostimulating and antipyretic effects and to strengthen immunity. Its use to treat certain respiratory infections is even recognized by the WHO.
Dr Kiattiphum Wongrajit, Permanent Secretary of Thailand’s Ministry of Health, said fatalaijone extract contains andrographolide which can eliminate and suppress the spread of coronavirus. Andrographolide (fatalaijone) is a traditional medicine extracted from the leaves and stems of the plant.
“If a patient takes 180 milligrams each day, their symptoms usually improve on the third day” Dr. Kiattiphum said.
The massive use of the green chiretta in Thailand comes following the treatment with this medicinal herb of 309 patients presenting mild symptoms during the epidemic outbreak in last December. 306 saw their condition improve in five days while it only worsened for three patients.
The cost of treating a patient with fatalaijone has been estimated at 180 THB not to mention the savings if he does not develop a severe form which is expensive to treat.
There will be one additional study to confirm the effectiveness of fatalaijone. Anyway i is something to follow with interest. And it would be an interesting lesson if it is traditional medicine that brought us an effective treatment against COVID-19 in a world that has almost everywhere replaced it by chemical medicine because we cannot patent nature and therefore do less money. At some point, we will have to question this mode of living our world and reconnect with nature, with ancestral knowledge, the world rules that by profit exhausts our planet and causes us to lose millennia of knowledge, unmaterial wealth, solidarity, common sense…
Source of information: Bangkok Post
