TEHRAN – There are currently 30 projects underway nationwide in the field of traditional medicine, herbal medicine and supplements to fight the coronavirus pandemic, said the head of the scientific committee of the National Headquarters for Coronavirus Control.

Many herbal remedies for cough have been licensed, but with the spread of the infection, these herbal medicines are recommended for relieving cough in COVID-19 patients to use at home, Mostafa Ghanei said, implying that these sprays are not part of the treatment protocol, but physicians can prescribe them, IRNA reported.

There are many herbal remedies in the country to relieve COVID-19, but have so far been used in populations of less than 100 people; therefore, announcing their effectiveness still needs time and testing to be confirmed, he explained.

Some of these drugs have been accepted as palliative treatment for the infected patients, he further added, IRNA reported on Sunday.

Inhalers, which have recently been marketed as herbal medicine by the Food and Drug Administration for COVID-19, have been tested to a limited extent on patients, but to show its effectiveness, a clinical test is being performed on a larger population, Ghanei also explained.

None of these herbal medicines have yet presented clinical evidence that has been able to either reduce mortality or length of hospital stay in patients with coronavirus, he highlighted.

Neither Iran nor the world has any medicine to prevent the virus, currently, 30 projects of traditional and herbal medicine are being implemented in the country, but none of them has reached the point of being approved as a national protocol, he concluded.

The number of people diagnosed with coronavirus in Iran reached 343,203 on Sunday, of whom 19,639 have died and 297,486 recovered so far. Over the past 24 hours, 2,133 new cases of people having the virus have been identified, and 147 died, Sima Sadat Lari ministry of health’s spokesman said.

Currently, 3,881 patients with coronavirus are in critical condition, she added.

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