(Centres nod for a clinical trial on 4 Ayurveda medicines)
There is a famous saying in Hindi “घर की मुर्गी दाल बराबर” at last the Ayush Ministry woke-up to launch clinical research studies on the possibility of using ayurvedic medicines as preventive or add-on to standard care to Covid-19. The Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) and the Ayush ministry has extensive plans to work together to test four ayurvedic formulations for the purpose – Ashwagandha, Yashtimadhu, Guduchi peepli and Ayush 64.
The trials for these ayurvedic formulations will be done on health workers and people working in high-risk zones with the help of the Sanjeevani app. Around 50 lakh people to be tested through this app, a communiqué from the ministry said.
These studies will be done as a joint initiative of the Ministry of Ayush, Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Science and Technology through CSIR with technical support of ICMR.
Shekhar Mande, DG, CSIR, said, “Our objective is to try these formulations through Ayush perspective. Noting that our traditional knowledge is very rich, it has evolved over many years, and can we approve or disapprove through modern sciences its use. If it turns out to be very effective against Covid-19, it will be an icing on the cake.”
“The (Ayush) ministry is also studying the impacts of Ayush-based prophylactic interventions in a high-risk population and Ayush advocacies and Ayush measures for prevention of Covid-19,” the statement said.
It has set up an Interdisciplinary Ayush Research and Development Task Force with a group of experts under Dr. Bhushan Patvardhan, Vice-Chairman, University Grant Commission (UGC) to formulate and develop strategies for this initiative.
The ministry has also developed the “Ayush Sanjeevani” mobile app for generating data of a large population with a target of 5 million people.
“The core expected outcomes include to generate data on acceptance and usage of Ayush advocacies and measures among the population and its impact in the prevention of Covid-19,” the statement said.
The COVID-19 has wreaked havoc all over the globe. All eyes are on ancient Indian Medicine “Ayurveda” hope the Ayurveda will crack the COVID-19 and bring laurels to the Indian system of Medicine.
