Plasma therapy no treatment for Covid-19: Health Ministry

New Delhi: Terming that the plasma therapy is at an experimental stage, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, here on Tuesday, said considering it as treatment of Covid-19 was wrong, illegal and might create "life threatening" complications.

Addressing the media, Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry, said, "The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has stated clearly that there is no approved therapy for Covid-19, including the plasma therapy. In fact, there is no approved therapy for Covid-19 anywhere in the world."

Till the ICMR concluded its study of the plasma therapy for Covid-19, it would be unethical and illegal to call it a treatment for the coronavirus infection, he said.

"The plasma therapy is one of the therapies being experimented with for Covid-19. But there is no evidence to support this therapy as a treatment of this disease. It's still at the experimental stage. The USFDA is also looking at it as an experiment only," Agarwal said.

The ICMR had initiated a nationwide study to check its efficacy. Until robust scientific proofs were available, he said, "We should use this therapy only for trial and study purposes. In fact, if the plasma therapy is not used as per the prescribed guidelines it could cause life-threatening complications."

Under this therapy, plasma of a recovered person, in this case Covid-19, is taken and infused in the patient. But till date no country has okayed this therapy for treatment for Covid-19.