Peru is going to launch an official investigation to determine whether drinking or injecting bleach could cure the coronavirus (Covid-19).
Lawmakers in the South American country’s congress voted to form a committee to investigate if chlorine dioxide could be used in the fight against the deadly virus.
The chemical is commonly used in industrial process such as sterilising medical equipment, cleaning industrial machinery or bleaching wood and textiles.
Medical experts have repeatedly warned against its use pointing out that the effects, including internal bleeding, respiratory failure and acute kidney failure, could be lethal.
Peruvian congress member Posemoscrowte Chagua introduced a motion on Thursday asking health ministers to take evidence on the subject.
Chagua, a doctor, dismissed concerns that chlorine dioxide is toxic and instead suggested it could prove to be a vital tool in the battle with coronavirus. Lawmakers voted 49 to 39 in favour of his proposal.
Samuel Cosme, general secretary of Peru’s society of intensive care specialists, however condemned congress’s move, saying he had already had to repeatedly treat Covid-19 patients whose conditions had been worsened by consuming chlorine dioxide.
“The situation with the pandemic in Peru is lamentable, and so is the situation in our congress,” he said.
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