You Cannot Claim COVID-19 Drugs On The Pretext Of Good Intentions

Chairman of the Covid-19 Research and Innovation Consortium Ministry of Research and Technology Ali Ghufron (Photo: Diah Ayu Wardani / VOI)

JAKARTA - Chairman of the Covid-19 Research and Innovation Consortium of the Ministry of Research and Technology (Kemenristek) Ali Ghufron said that no party could claim to have the COVID-19 drug and argued that it was only for the good purpose of helping free healing.

This was conveyed by Ali in connection with Hadi Pranoto's confession, which has recently been widely discussed. Hadi's name was widely discussed after claiming to produce thousands of COVID-19 herbal medicines and distribute them freely to the public.

"If someone claims to distribute the medicine for free, the question is safety and effectiveness. Is it a true cure or is it just a coincidence? Indeed, only people who take the drug can recover? Covid, if the antibodies are good, the virus will die without taking medication. nothing, "said Ali in a discussion at Graha BNPB, East Jakarta, Thursday, August 6.

Ali said, the government is actually open if there are parties who want to innovate in making herbal medicines to cure COVID-19. However, he said, there must be steps that need to be done before obtaining a license for the drug to be distributed.

First, the person concerned must make a proposal regarding drugs and their manufacturing ingredients to the Ministry of Research and Technology. Then, the proposal will be examined by the ethics committee as a due diligence.

"The discovery of a drug is a long process. Because there are two possibilities to be obtained, namely medica and mentosa. It can be a drug. But if the dose is wrong, it could be poison," he said.

After passing the license, the drug must be registered with the BPOM. From the permit, there is a drug classification that must be filled, whether it is herbal medicine, standardized herbal medicine, or phytopharmaca.

In addition, a drug discovery must also have a recommendation from an authorized agency, such as the Ministry of Health, Kemenristek, POM, or universities.

"So, having good intentions is not enough because if one is wrong it can be disastrous. If someone says this drug is not dangerous because it is only a herbal medicine. In fact, it is not necessarily true. Because, everything that is put into the body must have a reaction," he explained. he.