American virologist and immunologist, Dr Robert Malone, recently courted controversy after he claimed that the Uttar Pradesh government in India refused to divulge information about its Covid-19 treatment procedure with the United States government.
During the December episode of the ‘Joe Rogan Experience‘ podcast, Dr Malone said that Uttar Pradesh was able to take control of the pandemic by prescribing Ivermectin (an anti-parasitic medication) to Coronavirus patients. The virologist, known for his work in mRNA technology, alleged, “They deployed early treatment as packages. It included a number of agents. The composition has not been formally disclosed.”
“It was done in coordination with the WHO (World Health Organisation). In those packages, it was rumoured to include Ivermectin. But there was a specific visit by Biden to Modi and a decision was made by the Indian government not to disclose the contents of the packages that were being deployed in Uttar Pradesh,” he claimed.
Dr. Robert Malone explains to Joe Rogan how Uttar Pradesh has crushed COVID with early treatment.
— Mythinformed MKE (@MythinformedMKE) December 31, 2021
Joe Biden met with Narendra Modi and a decision was made to not disclose the contents of the treatment. Why? pic.twitter.com/PG9AkhIHvG
On being asked by show host Joe Rogan about the possibility of an official, from the Biden administration, meeting the Indian government, Dr Malone said, “There was a meeting between Joe Biden and Modi. I don’t know what they said. I was not invited. Immediately afterwards, there was a decision to not disclose the content of what was being deployed in Uttar Pradesh.”
On hearing this, Joe Rogan took potshots at the Indian government for withholding information, about its success story in Uttar Pradesh, from the rest of the world amidst the Coronavirus pandemic. Dr Malone insinuated that the Government of India somehow hid the use of Ivermectin, which had proved successful in containing Covid-19 cases in UP, from the United States government despite the ant-helminthic drug being a part of national guidelines.
Debunking the claims made in the Joe Rogan show
As per a report published in The Indian Express on May 12, 2021, the Uttar Pradesh government itself had conceded that the large-scale therapeutic use of Ivermectin helped to maintain a low Covid-19 positivity rate and a low fatality rate as compared to the other Indian States. Following the development of the first Covid-19 cluster in Agra, the State Health Department introduced Ivermectin and Doxycycline in August 2020 for both prophylaxis and treatment of the Wuhan Coronavirus.
While speaking to The Indian Express, State Surveillance Officer Vikasendu Agrawal had said, “Uttar Pradesh was the first state in the country to introduce large-scale prophylactic and therapeutic use of Ivermectin. In May-June 2020, a team at Agra, led by Dr Anshul Pareek, administered Ivermectin to all RRT team members in the district on an experimental basis. It was observed that none of them developed Covid-19 despite being in daily contact with patients who had tested positive for the virus.”
He further added, “Despite being the state with the largest population base and a high population density, we have maintained a relatively low positivity rate and cases per million of population.” While witnessing the success in Agra, the UP government sanctioned the Statewide use of Ivermectin for all contacts of Covid-19 patients initially as a prophylactic measure. Later, it was sanctioned for the treatment of infected patients.
According to Agra Magistrate Prabhu N Singh, 12 mg of Ivermectin was prescribed for a period of 3 days in accordance with the national guidelines in August 2020. It was followed by testing on the 4th or 5th day. “We introduced it in the jail as well and the results helped us reduce positivity to a great extent, following which Additional Chief Secretary Health Amit Mohan formed a committee to access its usage and it was finally introduced in the state’s Covid management protocol in 2020 itself,” he informed.
Doctor and patient testimonies puncture holes in claims made in the Joe Rogan show
Popular Twitter user (@Ateendriyo), who is a doctor by profession, informed, “Well, UP did not hide. We all received these packages and with Ivermectin clearly marked. In the earlier iteration of the guidelines, HCQ too was clearly marked.” While reacting to the claims made by Dr Rober Malone, he added, “This seems palpably fake.”
Another Twitter user narrated how medical workers were sent to his residence after he contracted the Wuhan Coronavirus infection in March last year. He said that packets of Ivermectin and Azithromycin were home-delivered by the Uttar Pradesh government. He had uploaded the list of medicines that were prescribed to him.
This is what was prescribed. pic.twitter.com/3Bb4PWX297
— Ashleel Launda (@AshleelLaunda5) January 1, 2022
When the Uttar Pradesh government sent out health kits and medicines to infected Covid-19 patients, who were either isolated at home or at hospitals, all prescribed medicines including Ivermectin was clearly marked. To suggest that none knew about the contents of the medicine kits is a far-fetched claim, which is not grounded in reality. And for Dr Rober Malone to even insinuate that the Indian government withheld such a piece of information, already existing in the public domain, from the US government has no semblance of truth in it.
