Study on reemergence of alternate medicines in India in the wake of a pandemic (covid-19)

Abstract

The Ayurveda and other alternative medicines are on a rise as they are getting more attention especially during a pandemic. But with this, there are many misbranding and misleading claims that are being practiced by some companies. Tall claims of coronavirus cure, male child bearing etc are not uncommon. Coronil is one such example which has been touted as the coronavirus cure by Patanjali. In this report we attempt to trace the Coronil approval and the entire story behind it. We attempt to perform a sentiment analysis from twitter, reddit and other social media sites for Coronil, Patanjali and Liv52, a popular ayurvedic medicine to understand the sentiments for such medicines. It seems the sentiments for these medicines are mostly neutral or negative. A google search trend analysis revealed that most of “coronil” searches emerged from north and central India. A survey was also conducted to determine the perception of effectiveness for such medicines in the public and their willingness to pay. Globally, these medicines have started to get more attention but a need for evidence based results is required for greater acceptance.