Lok Sabha Question No. 4104 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-19
Subject: Prevention of Diseases using AYUSH
Ministry: AYURVEDA,YOGA & NATUROPATHY,UNANI,SIDDHA AND HOMEOPATHY (AYUSH)
Asked by: Navneet Ravi Rana

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AYURVEDA, YOGA & NATUROPATHY, UNANI, SIDDHA AND HOMOEOPATHY (AYUSH)

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION NO. 4104 TO BE ANSWERED ON 19 TH March, 2021

## PREVENTION OF DISEAS ES USING AYUSH

## 4104. SHRIMATI NAVNEET RAVI RANA:

Will  the  Minister  of AYURVEDA,  YOGA  AND NATUROPATHY,  UNANI, SIDDHA AND HOMOEOPATHY (AYUSH) be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has taken any steps to increase awareness about affordable and easy practices that can be adopted for enhancing immu nity and preventing any disease and also  to  acquaint  the  people about  the  strengths  of  various  AYUSH - based  solutions for enhancing immunity and preventing diseases;

- (b) if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF YOUTH AFFAIRS AND SPORTS AND ADDITIONAL CHARGE OF MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF AYURVEDA, YOGA & NATUROPATHY, UNANI, SIDDHA AND HOMOEOPATHY (SHRI KIREN RIJIJU)

(a) & (b) :    Yes .  The Ministry of AYUSH ha ve conventionally organised national and State level Arogya fairs; exhibitions; seminars; melas to increase awareness about affordab easy practices that can be adopted for prevention of diseases including enhancing immunity. Further, at the outset o f COVID - 19 pandemic the Ministry repurposed its scheme, namely, Information,  Education  and  Communication(IEC)  by  utilizing  the  virtual  medium  o communication optimally.   The action taken in this regard are det aile s  under:

- (i) Ministry of AYUSH issued an advisory on 29.01.2020 on how to protect oneself from COVID and how to stay healthy. Ministry has written a letter dated 06.03.2020 to Chief  Secretaries  of  States  /  Union  territories  with  more  specific  sugg estions  on augmentation of General Immunity of people and about possible AYUSH intervention.  Ministry  has  also  issued  self -care  guidelines  on  31.03.2020  for preventive  health  measures  and  boosting  immunity  with  special  reference  t respiratory health.
- (ii) Guidelines for Registered Practitioners of respective system of AYUSH have bee prepared by Research Councils and National Institutes with their team of experts same  is  vetted  by  the  Interdisciplinary  AYUSH  Research  and  Development  Task Force of Ministry of AYUSH. These vetted guidelines are made available in public domain for the benefit of more than 700000 registered AYUSH practitioners to he in the management of COVID 19 pandemic uniformly.
- (iii) AYUSH  for  Immunity  Campaign :  Ministry  of  AYUSH  launched  a three - month long  campaign  called  'AYUSH  for  Immunity'  in  the  month  of  August,  2020 that aimed to increase awareness among the masses, regarding the effective home ca solutions  and  recommended  AYUSH  practices,  to  help  them  to  enhance  their immunity. Durin g the entire campaign, series of events, such as social media conte online discourses and virtual seminars were carried out, which further increase reach of Ministry of AYUSH among various sections of the society. It was a them -based campaign, co vering the Aahar, Vihaar, and Nidra themes, for the months of September,  October,  and  November  2020  respectively.  Various  outreach  activiti were conducted by different institutions under the Ministry, for public awareness
- (iv) Holding  webinars  on  virtual  p latforms :  Ministry  of  AYUSH  through  various platforms including its own Ayush Virtual Convention Centre (AVCC) held webinars on various topics. A total of 6 webinars took place from 14 th Aug 2020 on the subject of immunity.
- (v) Community Radio programme : Ministry of AYUSH also engaged Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA), an Inter - Governmental organisation to disseminate immunity related information through Community Radio Stations(CRS) among rural and semi urban population. The broadc ast of five minutes on CRS was done twice every day from 10/12/2020 to 10/02/2021.
- (vi) Contests on social media platforms including MYGOV.IN : With the aim to make the process of dissemination and receipt of information interesting and playfu Ministry a lso experimented with contests and competitions. My Life My Yoga(MLMY) contest was a watershed event in which 46,000 people participated by uploading  their  yoga  related  videos  during  International  Day  of  yoga(IDY)  202 Peopleacross the globe were provi sioned to take part in this contest .  Further, the social  media  channels  of  Ministry  of  AYUSH,  its  autonomous  organisations  and MYGOV.IN also hosted a number of contests viz, essay writing, quiz contest, sh video contest etc. on the topic of immunity.
- (vii) Updating  Website  on  COVID  related  remedies :  The  website  of  the  Ministry  of AYUSH  and  its  autonomous  organisations  were  also  updated  regularly  with information on immunity related remedies.
- (viii) AYUSH  Sanjivani mobile  app  developed  by  Ministry  of  AYUSH  and  has documented the impact assessment of effectiveness, acceptance and usage of AYUSH advisories  &  measures  in  the  prevention  of  COVID - 19  through  Mobile  app  base population study in around 1.5 crores respondent s. 85 . 1 % of the respondents reported use  of  AYUSH  measures  for  prevention  of  COVID -19,  among  which89 . 8 % respondents agreed to have benefitted from the practice of AYUSH advisory .
- (ix) The  Ministry  of  AYUSH  has    also  released 'National  Clinical  Management Protocol based on Ayurveda and Yoga for management of COVID -19' prepared by National Task force which in consensus from expert committees from All Indi Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA), Delhi, Institute of Post Graduate Training and Res in Ayurved (IPGTRA), Jamnagar, and National Institute of Ayurveda (NIA), Jaipur , Central Council for Research in Ayurveda (CCRAS), Central Council for Research i Yoga and Naturopathy (CCRYN) and other national research organizations as per th Report & Recommendations of the Interdisciplinary Committee
- (x) Creation  of  Videos :  With  the  help  of  National  Film  Development  Corporation  of India(NFDC), a 17 -minute video on 'COVID -19 perspective' of All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA, New Delhi), was created.  The video was suitabl y shortened and broadcasted nation - wide on the occasion of World Ayurveda Day.
- (xi) Immunity related webinars on Ayurveda day, Siddha day and unani days were also conducted
- (c): Does not arise.