The Pharmacology Unit of the Department of Ayurveda has granted approval for the syrup locally manufactured by Ayurveda practitioner Dhammika Bandara from Kegalle, the cabinet said.
Thousands gathered in Kegalle recently, to obtain free samples of the syrup which Bandara claims can cure the coronavirus.
Commenting on the ‘Covid syrup’, cabinet Co- spokesman Minister Ramesh Pathirana said the Pharmacology Unit of the Department of Ayurveda has approved the syrup under the category of food, and as such its distribution cannot be prevented.
He further said a Ministry of Health team under State Minister of Pharmaceutical Production, Supply and Regulation Channa Jayasumana has commenced investigations into the ‘Covid syrup’.
Stating that the findings of the trials will be submitted to the ethical review committee tomorrow for ethics clearance, Minister Pathirana said the tonic will be subjected to a clinical trial afterward, which is called the ‘Placebo-Controlled Double-Blind Randomized Clinical Trial’. (NewsWire)