A few posts are being shared on social media with a claim that Patanjali’s ‘Coronil’ has been certified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a medicine for COVID-19.
“Now what ? Ayurvedic Aushadhi, Coronil gets WHO certification,” Facebook users shared screenshots of media reports along with the above caption.
Here’s the link to the above post.
The same was shared by multiple media organisations and BJP spokesperson Sanju Verma also tweeted the same.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the post and found the claim to be false and misleading.
We ran a keyword search and found multiple media reports stating that Patanjali on Feb 19, 2021, said that Coronil has now received certification from Ayush ministry as per World Health Organization (WHO) certification scheme.
Patanjali’s managing director Acharya Balakrishnan tweeted, “We are delighted and proud to state that Coronil has been granted a CoPP license by DCGI, in accordance with the WHO GMP quality approvals.”
We are delighted and proud to state that Coronil has been granted a CoPP license by DCGI, in accordance with the WHO GMP quality approvals. pic.twitter.com/4wT0TEbrV2
— Acharya Balkrishna (@Ach_Balkrishna) February 19, 2021
From the above tweet, it is clear that Coronil has been granted a CoPP license by Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI).
However, after the misreporting, he also put out another tweet clarifying that the Goods Manufacturing Practice (GMP) compliant Certificate of Pharmaceutical Product (CPP) to Coronil was issued and that too by DCGI.
“We want to clarify to avoid confusion that our WHO GMP compliant COPP certificate to Coronil is issued by DCGI, Government of India. It is clear that WHO do not approve or disapprove any drugs. WHO works for building a better, healthier future for people all over the world,” he tweeted.
We want to clarify to avoid confusion that our WHO GMP compliant COPP certificate to Coronil is issued by DCGI, Government of India.
It is clear that WHO do not approve or disapprove any drugs.
WHO works for building a better, healthier future for people all over the world. pic.twitter.com/ZEDPdWy0tg— Acharya Balkrishna (@Ach_Balkrishna) February 19, 2021
Putting out a clarification on the same, WHO South-East Asia also stated that WHO has not reviewed or certified the effectiveness of any traditional medicine for the treatment of coronavirus.
What is WHO’s GMP?
According to WHO website, WHO’s Goods Manufacturing Practice (GMP) is a set of guidelines issued to ensure that medicinal products are consistently produced and controlled to the quality standards appropriate to their intended use and as required by the product specification.
Who Issues Certificate of Pharmaceutical Product (CPP)?
A CPP is issued by the authorized body of the exporting country and is intended for use by the competent authority within an importing country. In the above case, the certificate was issued by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI).
How Does the Certificate of Pharmaceutical Product (CPP) scheme work?
According to WHO, “The applicant/importing company requests a CPP from the certifying authority through the exporting company.”
The certifying authority issues a CPP to the importing/applicant company via the exporting company.
Does WHO issue Certificates for a Pharmaceutical Product (CPP)?
The WHO document clearly states that WHO does not issue CPPs or any of the certificates described under the Scheme.
Moreover, the document also clarifies that certificates should not bear the WHO emblem or the acronym “WHO”.
“The use of the emblem or acronym creates the impression that the certificate is issued or endorsed by WHO. It is an illegal act and countries receiving such CPPs should reject them and report to WHO,” It said.
Hence, from the above information, it is clear that the post in circulation is misleading.
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