Akhilesh Yadav, the leader of the Samajwadi Party and former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, joined a chorus of voices on Wednesday commenting on a video from Gujarat’s Ahmedabad showing a group of people smearing cow dung on their bodies to shield themselves from the coronavirus.
The video shows men happily dousing themselves in cow dung and faeces in the hopes of warding off COVID-19. “Should we weep or laugh about this,” Yadav wrote on Twitter in response to the video.
A small group of people has been visiting a cow shelter run by Shree Swaminarayan Gurukul Vishwavidya Prathisthanam (SGVP) in Ahmedabad to take the therapy, claiming it would improve their immunity against COVID-19, according to a PTI survey.
About 200 cows are housed in the shelter. Every Sunday for the past month, about 15 people have come to add cow dung and cow urine to their bodies. An SGVP official informs PTI that it is then washed off with cow milk. Any frontline staff and people who work in medical stores are among those who are receiving the treatment, he added. Doctors, on the other hand, are sceptical of its effectiveness.
The treatment, according to Dr Mona Desai, a senior doctor in the district, is “humbug and inauthentic.” “Cow dung is nothing more than human waste. Cow dung and urine will never increase your immunity or shield you from the coronavirus. People should seek medical advice and avoid such therapies “Dr. Desai, chairperson of the Indian Medical Association’s women’s wing, said (IMA). “Instead of being beneficial, cow dung can cause other infections, such as mucormycosis,” she said.
Any COVID-19 survivors have developed mucormycosis, also known as black fungus infection, which can be lethal.
“Since cow dung also carries several fungi, they may enter into the body and infect you. I urge people to be little aware and not put their lives in danger,” said Desai.
