Lok Sabha Question No. 497 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-02-04
Subject: AYUSH Medicines for Geriatric Population
Ministry: AYURVEDA,YOGA & NATUROPATHY,UNANI,SIDDHA AND HOMEOPATHY (AYUSH)
Asked by: M V V Satyanarayana, Chandra Sekhar Bellana, Reddeppa Nallakonda Gari, Sanjay(Kaka) Ramchandra Patil, Maddila  Gurumoorthy, Adala Prabhakara Reddy, Goddeti Madhavi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AYUSH

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 497 ANSWERED ON 04.02.2022

## AYUSH MEDICINES FOR GERIATRIC POPULATION

## 497. SHRI M.V.V. SATYANARAYANA:

SHRI CHANDRA SEKHAR BELLANA:

SHRI N. REDDEPPA:

SHRI SANJAY KAKA PATIL:

SHRI MADDILA GURUMOORTHY:

SHRI ADALA PRABHAKARA REDDY:

SHRIMATI GODDETI MADHAVI:

Will the Minister of AYUSH be pleased to state:

(a)  whether  the  Ministry  has  taken  any  steps  to  improve  health  of  the  geriatric  population  of  the country following the pandemic;

(b) if so, details thereof; and

(c)  the  number  of  people  of  60  years  and  above  age  across  the  country  to  whom  AYUSH prophylactic medicines have been distributed till date under ''Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav'' campaign, State-wise including Maharashtra?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF AYUSH (SHRI SARBANANDA SONOWAL)

(DR. MAHENDRABHAI MUNJAPARA)

(DR. MAHENDRABHAI MUNJAPARA)

(a) & (b) Yes, Sir. The Ministry has taken various steps to improve health of the general public including geriatric population of the country following the pandemic.

Prophylactic medicines for prevention of COVID-19 from Ayush systems including Ayurveda, Siddha,  Unani  and  Homoeopathy  were  distributed  free  of  cost  to  general  public  including geriatric population. Initiatives/Actions taken by Ministry of Ayush for management of COVID19 pandemic are at Annexure-I.

(  c  )  State/UT-wise number of people including 60 years and above age across the country to whom  AYUSH  prophylactic  medicines  have  been  distributed  till  01 st February,  2022  under ''Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav'' campaign by Ministry of Ayush is attached as Annexure-II.

## Annexure-I

## Initiatives/Actions taken by Ministry of Ayush for improving health of the general public including geriatric population of the country during COVID-19 pandemic.

1. Ministry of Ayush issued an advisory on how to protect yourself from COVID and how to stay healthy. In the advisory, in addition to maintaining hygiene like hand wash, use of mask etc. simple home remedies were also suggested for people.
2. A letter to all Chief Secretaries of States / Union territories was sent from the Ministry with more  specific  suggestions  on  augmentation  of  General  Immunity  of  people  and  about possible AYUSH intervention wherever required in coordination with Health departments of the States / UTs.
3. A  letter  was  sent  to  Ministry  of  Health  &  Family  Welfare  offering  for  integrating  and utilizing huge AYUSH infrastructure to combat with the COVID-19 pandemic.
4. Ministry has sent a D.O.  letter to Principals of all  Ayurveda,  Siddha,  Unani  and Homoeopathy colleges for utilization of available infrastructure facilities like Hospital (IPD & OPD), pathology laboratory, ICU and manpower including medical & Paramedical Staff to  combat  with  the  COVID-19  pandemic.  Therefore,  they  were  requested  to  offer  their services to local health authorities for utilization of the available facilities by them as per the situation arises. Accordingly, the various AYUSH institutes hospital were utilized by State Governments and designated as Quarantine Centre, Isolation Centre, COVID Care Centre and COVID Health Centre.
5. Ministry  of  Ayush  recommends  self-care  guidelines  for  preventive  health  measures  and boosting immunity.
6.  General Measures
7.  Ayurvedic Immunity Promoting Measures
8.  Simple Ayurvedic Procedures
9.  During dry cough/sore throat
6. Ministry  of  Ayush  has  released  guidelines  for  Ayurveda  Practitioners  for  COVID-19 patients in Home Isolation and Ayurveda & Unani based Preventive Measures for self care during COVID-19 Pandemic.
7. Ministry  of  Ayush  has  released  an  advisory  on  Ayush  interventions  for  Prophylaxis  & Management of COVID-19 and Ayush guidelines for COVID-19 cases for care givers.

8. Guidelines for Registered Practitioners of respective system of AYUSH have been prepared by Director  Generals of Research Councils and Directors of National  Institutes with their team  of  experts  and  same  is  vetted  by  the  Interdisciplinary  AYUSH  Research  and Development  Task  Force  of  Ministry  of  Ayush.  These  guidelines  are  made  available  in public domain for the benefit of registered AYUSH practitioners including Homoeopathy to help in the management of COVID-19 pandemic uniformly.
9. Government of India has also released 'National Clinical Management Protocol based on Ayurveda and Yoga for management of COVID-19'.
10. Ministry of Ayush has also released Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha preventive measures for selfcare during COVID-19 and Guidelines for AYUSH Practitioners for COVID-19 Patients in Home Isolation.
11. During the second wave of this pandemic, the scientists of reputed research institutions of the  country  have  found  that    AYUSH-64,  a  poly  herbal  formulation  developed  by  the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), Ministry of Ayush is useful in the treatment of asymptomatic, mild and moderate COVID-19 infection as an adjunct to standard care. The Ministry of Ayush-Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) collaboration has recently completed a robust multi-centre clinical trial to evaluate the safety and  efficacy  of  AYUSH-64  in  the  management  of  mild  to  moderate  COVID-19  patients. Further, KabasurKudineer ,  a  Siddha  preparation  was  also  subjected  to  clinical  trials  for studying  the  efficacy  in  COVID-19  patients  by  Central  Council  for  Research  in  Siddha (CCRS)  under  Ministry  of  Ayush  and  is  also  found  useful  in  the  treatment  of  mild  to moderate COVID-19 infection.
12. Ministry  of  Ayush  vide  D.O  letter  No.S-16030/13/3030-NAM  has  also  requested  the States/UTs Governments to popularise the use of Kabasura kudineer and AYUSH-64 in the asymptomatic,  mild  to  moderate  COVID-19  patients  at  islolation  centres/  COVID  Care Centre / Covid Health Centre, AYUSH hospitals/ dispensary and patients in home isolation.
13. In  order  to  provide  maximum  benefit  of  AYUSH  systems  of  medicine,  a  Nation-wide campaign for distribution of AYUSH-64 and Kabasura Kudineer through clinical units of Research Councils and National Institutes under the Ministry of Ayush across the country.
14. Ministry  of  Ayush  has  also  issued  advisory  for  AYUSH  practitioners  on  ethical  practices during COVID-19 pandemic.
15. Ministry  of  Ayush  vide  its  D.O.  letter  No.  Y-18020/2/2020  -EP-III  has  requested  all States/UTs  to  issue  appropriate  instructions  to  District  Authorities  urgently  to  involve

District Ayurveda Officers in the management and mitigation of COVID-19 in the districts and  utilize  the  services  of  AYUSH  doctors,  AYUSH  healthcare  providers  and  AYUSH health care facilities extensively so that the shortage of manpower and infrastructure for the management of COVID-19 can be duly addressed.

16. For continuing with the efforts to augment human resources for the management of COVID19 cases, the Ministry of Ayush has issued advisory to deploy the trained AYUSH human resources available with them for clinical management of COVID-19 cases.
17. Ministry of Ayush has released Home care guidelines for children and Advisory for AYUSH Practitioners about prophylactic care in Children during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
18. Ministry  of  Ayush  has  released  information  for  Ayurveda  Practitioners  for  Prophylactic, Symptomatic Management of suspected and diagnosed cases of Mucormycosis.
19. Ministry of Ayush has released "Ayush Recommendations for the public on holistic health and well-being Preventive measures and care during COVID-19 and LONG COVID-19".

## Annexure-II

State-wise number of people including 60 years and above age across the country including Maharashtra  to  whom  AYUSH  prophylactic  medicines  have  been  distributed  till  01 st February, 2022 under ''Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav'' campaign by Ministry of Ayush.

| State / Uts                |   Number of beneficiaries |
|----------------------------|---------------------------|
| Andman and Nicobar Islands |                      3809 |
| Andhra Pradesh             |                    103758 |
| Arunachal Pradesh          |                      5467 |
| Assam                      |                     33843 |
| Bihar                      |                     41771 |
| Delhi                      |                    157668 |
| Gujarat                    |                     55548 |
| Himachal pradesh           |                     15881 |
| Jammu and Kashmir          |                     30379 |
| Jharkhand                  |                      5251 |
| Kerala                     |                    120849 |
| Karnataka                  |                     21023 |
| Ladakh                     |                        50 |
| Madhya Pradesh             |                     40711 |
| Maharashtra                |                    109329 |
| Manipur                    |                     10420 |
| Mizoram                    |                      1339 |
| Meghalaya                  |                       958 |
| Nagaland                   |                      8925 |
| Odisha                     |                     57382 |
| Puducherry                 |                     20433 |
| Punjab                     |                     14400 |
| Rajasthan                  |                     73844 |
| Sikkim                     |                      6264 |
| Tamil Nadu                 |                    144596 |
| Telangana                  |                     53839 |
| Tripura                    |                     22051 |
| Uttarakhand                |                      5633 |
| Uttar Pradesh              |                     78240 |
| West Bengal                |                     46143 |
| Total                      |                   1289804 |