Don't Just Claim Drugs That Can Cure COVID-19

BANJARMASIN - Member of the Lambung Mangkurat University (ULM) Expert Team for the Acceleration of Handling COVID-19, Nasrullah reminded the public not to just claim drugs that can cure COVID-19.

"Recently, there are many fruits that grow in South Kalimantan after being consumed can cure the symptoms of COVID-19, however, it needs to be observed so that people do not lead the wrong opinion," he said in Banjarmasin, quoted by Antara, Friday, July 30.

Nasrullah explained, like medical treatment, even non-medical treatment until now has not been the only drug that is truly effective in curing COVID-19 sufferers.

But there are always claims of plants that are able to cure COVID-19 and are conveyed by public testimonials and are usually easily accepted by public reason.

According to Nasrullah, plants such as fruit, roots, stems, shoots, and leaves require trials in the community for generations, so that they become traditional plants. Even so, it is also mandatory to have a correlation with scientific findings through articles in various journals.

"Thus, the views of experts regarding traditional or herbal medicines in relation to medicine should be taken into consideration," said Nasrullah.

The most important thing, he said, is that these plants should not be exploited in such a way, cut down en masse, which could pose a threat to their survival. Moreover, if the plant is endemic or only in one place.

"We need to learn from the case of the pirated plant which is widely known due to television mass media coverage and is exploited to be sold because it is considered a cancer drug, thus making the Central Kalimantan Provincial Government prohibit the plant from leaving the area," said the community anthropologist who graduated from Gadjah Mada University (UGM). .