Bolivian Senate approves toxic disinfectant as Covid-19 treatment, against warnings from the Ministry of Health

Chlorine dioxide is primarily used to disinfect drinking water supplies and has never been lawfully used or sold for use in or on the human body.

However, those who promote its use include the mayor of Cochabamba, José María Leyes, who tested positive for the virus, and legislators from the main opposition party.

“I think it is necessary to try other medicinal alternatives, such as chlorine dioxide,” Leyes said July 10 on his official Twitter account. Despite abundant warnings, he insists that chlorine dioxide is safe if taken with caution.

The Bolivian Ministry of Health threatened to prosecute those who promote the unscientific use of chlorine dioxide as a coronavirus treatment “with the full power of the law.” But so far, it has not taken legal action against specific individuals or entities.

Approve an untested disinfectant

The promotion of chlorine dioxide has gone beyond rhetoric in Bolivia: on July 14, the Bolivian Senate, controlled by the opposition Movement for Socialism party, passed a bill to approve the “supply and use of chlorine dioxide solution for prevention and treatment. ” of coronavirus. ”

The proposed law would authorize public and private laboratories to produce the chlorine dioxide solution “as long as there is a risk of contagion from the coronavirus,” and provincial and municipal governments should “guarantee the supply of the chlorine dioxide solution in health. public system, “said the statement. The law would also regulate trade and production of the substance, as some people have been buying chlorine dioxide on the black market, the statement said.

The opposition, which has a majority in both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, is now pushing the bill for a vote in the House. It is expected to happen there as well.

“It would be an alternative for treatment,” said Sergio Choque, leader of the Chamber of Deputies and member of the Movement for Socialism. “A treatment, but medically prescribed.” However, the proposed bill says recipes are not necessary, but dosages must be indicated on each bottle.

Finally, the bill must be signed by the acting president to become law, and Áñez is likely to veto the law and comply with guidance from the health ministry.

But with elections scheduled for this year, and coronavirus infections and deaths increasing rapidly across the country, the pressure on Áñez and his cabinet to find new solutions to end the crisis is mounting. The Movement for Socialism, which is loyal to former toppled leader Evo Morales, has fiercely criticized the Áñez government’s handling of the pandemic.

The acting president’s office did not respond to a request for comment on the proposed chlorine dioxide legislation.

She and more than a dozen government officials have tested positive for coronavirus, although Áñez has since been given medical authorization to return to work.

The Bolivian government issued an official decree on Monday, declaring that the country was in a “state of public calamity” due to the economic impact of Covid-19.

Overwhelmed health system

Among the 20 countries most affected by Covid-19, Bolivia ranks seventh in deaths per capita, according to JHU.

The country’s fragile health system has been overwhelmed by a sharp rise in infections in recent weeks. Several hospitals in the two largest cities, La Paz and El Alto, have reached capacity. Morgues and cemeteries have also been overwhelmed.

“Unfortunately, our Covid hospitals in the city are full,” La Paz Mayor Luis Revilla said in early July, asking other hospitals to intervene. Revilla announced Tuesday that he and his wife tested positive for Covid-19, but they are fine and almost symptom-free.

In Cochabamba, volunteers help collect the bodies of victims and those who cannot afford to bury loved ones.

“We are all being affected. I have relatives in intensive care. We are trying to find a ventilator for my wife’s grandfather to save her life”, Luis Fernando Ortiz, member of the “Goodbye Brigades”, teams of volunteers who coordinate the collections of bodies with relatives and police, and transportation to the nearest cemetery, they told Reuters. “It is a catastrophic situation,” he said.

Eric Ocana, another Cochabamba resident, said treatments like unproven chlorine dioxide give him some hope, and says he believes it has made at least two people he knows feel better.

“They are doing perfect,” Ocana told Reuters, adding that “they have already come out of this problem.”

Postponed elections

Beyond the chlorine dioxide bill, the coronavirus has made its mark on Bolivian politics, forcing a date change for its long-delayed presidential elections.

The president of the Bolivian Supreme Electoral Tribunal, Salvador Romero, announced last week that the election would be postponed so that adequate security measures for the coronavirus could be implemented. The vote will now take place on October 18, with a possible second round on November 29.

It had previously been delayed since May.

Although the Bolivian National Scientific Committee had encouraged the postponement, former leader Morales, who is currently in Argentina but has remained politically active, criticized the announcement and accused the interim government of trying to “buy more time.”

“The postponement of the date of the elections will only cause more suffering to the Bolivian people because it prolongs the agony of the government in a sea of ​​incapacities and ambitions that prevented them, in eight months, from taking measures to manage the current human and economic catastrophe.” Morales said in a series of tweets.

Morales, who resigned after the 2019 general election on ballot fraud allegations, maintains that he was forced to resign and promised to continue fighting from abroad.

In an election increasingly defined by the coronavirus crisis, Áñez faces several candidates, including two former presidents, Jorge Quiroga and Carlos Mesa, and the candidate for the Movement for Socialism, Luis Arce, backed by Morales.