Lok Sabha Question No. 2286 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-10
Subject: Treatment of COVID-19 patients under AYUSH
Ministry: AYURVEDA,YOGA & NATUROPATHY,UNANI,SIDDHA AND HOMEOPATHY (AYUSH)
Asked by: Girish Chandra, Raghu Ramakrishna Raju Kanumuru

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AYUSH

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2286 TO BE ANSWERED ON 10 TH  DECEMBER, 2021

## TREATMENT OF COVID-19 PATIENTS UNDER AYUSH

## 2286.   SHRI GIRISH CHANDRA: SHRI KANUMURU RAGHU RAMA KRISHNA RAJU

Will the Minister of AYUSH be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has formulated any policy to fight against COVID-19 using all the treatments available under AYUSH including Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy streams and if so, the details of the progress made in this regard;

(b) the number of AYUSH COVID centres/clinics set up in the country to fight against Corona Virus, State/ UT-wise;

(c) whether COVID patients were admitted in the AYUSH centres and if so, the details thereof along with the recovery rates of patients who were treated and the outcome of assessment made in this regard;

(d) whether there are any records available on the efficacy of AYUSH protocol for treatment as an add on for prophylactic treatment for COVID-19 and if so, the details thereof; and

(e) the details of total funds released for the treatment of COVID-19 to AYUSH hospitals?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF AYUSH (SHRI SARBANANDA SONOWAL)

(DR. MAHENDRABHAI MUNJAPARA)

(DR. MAHENDRABHAI MUNJAPARA)

(a): The steps taken by Ministry of Ayush to promote Ayush System to tackle Covid-19 pandemic are at Annexure I .

(b)  &(c): The number of AYUSH COVID centres/clinics set up in the country to fight against Corona  Virus  and  COVID  patients  admitted  in  such  AYUSH  centres  alongwith  treatment outcomeas reported by State/ UT-governments and National Institutes under Ministry of Ayush is furnished at Annexure-II.

## (d):

- i. Ministry  of  AYUSH  issued  Gazette  notification  for  undertaking  research  on  COVID-19 through Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homeopathy Systems including prophylactic measures, intervention during the quarantine, asymptomatic and symptomatic cases of COVID-19, Public Health Research, Survey, Lab Based Research etc. to generate evidence.Ministry of AYUSH has  also  launched  interdisciplinary  studies  involving  AYUSH  interventions  for  COVID-19 based on recommendations of Task force. Under various research organizations and National Institutes under Ministry of AYUSH, 138 research studies in the country are being conducted on AYUSH interventions as prophylactic interventions.
- ii. AYUSH  Sanjivani  mobile  app  has  also  been  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  1.35  crores  respondents  and  analysis  of  7.24  lakh  public  data  revealed  that 85.1%  of  the  respondents  reported  use  of  AYUSH  measures  for  prevention  of  COVID-19, among  which  89.8%  respondents  agreed  to  have  benefitted  from  the  practice  of  AYUSH advisory.

(e): As  per  the  requests  received  from  State/UT  Governments  regarding  utilization  of  National AYUSH Mission  (NAM)  funds  for  purchase  of  medicines  including  AYUSH  64  Medicine  in  the context of Covid-19 pandemic, an amount of Rs. 2271.551 lakhs has been approved by Ministry of Ayush. The details are furnished at Annexure-III.

## Initiatives/Action  taken  by  Ministry  of  Ayush  for  the  management  of  COVID-19  pandemic are as follows -

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 COVID19 pandemic.
4. Ministry has sent a D.O. letter to Principal's of all Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathy (ASU&H)  colleges    (approximately  727  colleges)  for  utilization  of  available  infrastructure facilities  like  Hospital  (IPD  &  OPD),  pathology  laboratory,  ICU  and  manpower  including medical  &  Paramedical  Staff  to  combat  with  the  COVID19  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. A D.O.  Letter  from  Secretary  AYUSH  was  sent  to  Secretary  DHR  &  DG  ICMR  to  initiate research for AYUSH leads to deal with Corona Pandemic.
6. The  Ministry  is  using  platforms  like  video  conferencing  and  social  media  to  reach  out  to AYUSH practitioners and involve  them  in  stopping  and  discouraging  false  and  unsupported claims.
7. Ministry  of  AYUSH  recommends  self-care  guidelines  for  preventive  health  measures  and boosting immunity.
8.  General Measures
9.  Ayurvedic Immunity Promoting Measures
10.  Simple Ayurvedic Procedures
11.  During dry cough/sore throat
8. Office  order  has  been  issued  to  all  State/UT  Governments,  Ministry  of  Information  & Broadcasting, Department of Electronics & Information Technology, Press Council of India to stop the publicity and advertisement of AYUSH-related claims for COVID-19 treatment in TV channels,  electronic  and  print  media.  It  is  recommended  for  them  to  take  necessary  action against  the  persons/agencies  acting  in  contravention  of  relevant  legal  provisions  and  NDMA guidelines  in  this  regard.    This  order  also  seeks  from  National,  Intermediary  and  Peripheral Pharmacovigilance Centres of AYUSH and Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) to monitor and report such misleading advertisements/claims about AYUSH.

9. The Ministry of AYUSH launched a three-month campaign on 'Ayush for Immunity', through webinar  and  also  publishing  campaign  bulletin  on  AYUSH  for  Immunity.  More  than  50 thousand people participated in the Webinar.
10. Ministry  of  AYUSH  and  MoHFW have jointly  provided  training  to  33,000  AYUSH  master trainers. Total 66045 AYUSH Personnel had obtained training at igot.in platform on continual basis. Ministry of AYUSH has coordinated with MoHFW for utilisation of AYUSH manpower as COVID warrior for the management of COVID-19 with identified roles.
11. Ministry  of  AYUSH  has  formed  an  Inter-disciplinary  AYUSH  R&D  Task  Force  chaired  by Prof.BhushanPatwardhan  and  having  representation  from  scientists  including  ICMR,  DBT, CSIR,  AIIMS  and  AYUSH  Institutions.    The  Interdisciplinary  AYUSH  Research  and Development  Task  Force  has  formulated and designed clinical research protocols for prophylactic  studies  and  add-on  interventions  in  COVID-19  positive  cases  through  thorough review and consultative process of experts of high repute from different organizations across the country for studying four different interventions viz. Ashwagandha, Yashtimadhu, Guduchi + Pippali and a poly herbal formulation (AYUSH-64).
12. Ministry  of  AYUSH  issued  Gazette  notification  for  undertaking  research  on  COVID-19 through Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homeopathy Systems including prophylactic measures, intervention during the quarantine, asymptomatic and symptomatic cases of COVID-19, Public Health Research, Survey, Lab Based Research etc. to generate evidence.

Ministry of AYUSH  has also launched interdisciplinary studies involving  AYUSH interventions for COVID-19 based on recommendations of Task force. Under various research organizations and National  Institutes  under Ministry of AYUSH,  138 research studies in the country are being conducted on AYUSH interventions as prophylactic interventions.

13. AYUSH  Sanjivani  mobile  app  has  also  been  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  1.35  crores  respondents  and  analysis  of  7.24  lakh  public  data  revealed  that 85.1%  of  the  respondents  reported  use  of  AYUSH  measures  for  prevention  of  COVID-19, among  which  89.8%  respondents  agreed  to  have  benefitted  from  the  practice  of  AYUSH advisory.
14. 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.
15. Government of India has also released 'National Clinical Management Protocol based on Ayurveda and Yoga for management of COVID-19'
16. 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.

17. 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, KabasuraKudineer ,  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.
18. States/  UTs licensing authorities /  Drug  Controllers has  been  informed  to  allow  the  licensed manufactures for AYUSH-64 under their jurisdiction to include new indication of AYUSH-64 for  repurposing  as  an  intervention  for  the  management  of  asymptomatic,  mild  to  moderate COVID-19 in addition  to  existing  indication  (s).  Further,  States/  UTs  Licensing  Authorities have been requested to expedite the process of the licensing/ approval of application for the manufacturing of AYUSH-64.
19. 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 Kabasurakudineer and  AYUSH-64  in  the asymptomatic, mild to moderate COVID-19 patients at islolationcentres/ Covid Care Centre / Covid Health Centre ,Ayush hospitals/ dispensary and patients in home isolation.
20. In order to provide maximum benefit of Ayush systems of medicine, a Nation-wide campaign for  distribution  of  AYUSH-64  and KabasuraKudineer through  86  clinical  units  of  Research Councils and National Institute under Ministry of Ayush across the country.
21. Ministry of Ayush has also issued advisory for ayush practitioners on ethical practices during covid 19 pandemic.
22. 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.
23. 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.
24. Ministry  of  Ayush  has  released  information  for  Ayurveda  Practitioners  for  Prophylactic, Symptomatic Management of suspected and diagnosed cases of Mucormycosis.
25. 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

## The number of AYUSH COVID centres/clinics set up in the country to fight against Corona Virus and COVID patients admitted in such AYUSH centres alongwith treatment outcome:

|   S. No. | Name of States/UTs   |   Number of AYUSH COVID centres/clinics | Number of COVID patients admitted & treatment of Outcome   |
|----------|----------------------|-----------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Assam                |                                       1 | 1738                                                       |
|        2 | Karnataka            |                                       6 | 5298                                                       |
|        3 | Mizoram              |                                       1 | 570 Treated Successfully                                   |
|        4 | Telangana            |                                       4 | 7573 98% treated successfully                              |
|        5 | Haryana              |                                      11 | 5105 Treated successfully                                  |

|   S. No. | Name of the National Institutes under Ministry of Ayush         |   Number of AYUSH COVID centres/clinics | Number of COVID patients admitted & treatment of Outcome                 |
|----------|-----------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Institute of Training & research in Ayurveda, Jamnagar, Gujarat |                                       1 | 395 Successfully treated                                                 |
|        2 | National Institute of Siddha, Chennai                           |                                       4 | 4167 helped in the speedy recovery of mild and moderate COVID patients.  |
|        3 | All India Institute of Ayurveda, New Delhi                      |                                       1 | 592 99% patient who completed treatment became negative before discharge |

## Approval for utilization of National AYUSH Mission (NAM) funds for purchase of medicines including AYUSH 64 Medicine in the context of Covid-19 pandemic:-

| Sr. No.   | Name of the State/UT   |   Amount approved (Rs. in Lakhs) |
|-----------|------------------------|----------------------------------|
| 1         | Jharkhand              |                          528.1   |
| 2         | Manipur                |                           82.618 |
| 3         | Mizoram                |                           47.1   |
| 4         | Tamil Nadu             |                          145     |
| 5         | Gujarat                |                          471.85  |
| 6         | Jammu &Kashmir         |                          395.224 |
| 7         | Himachal Pradesh       |                          240.359 |
| 8         | Karnataka              |                          361.43  |
|           | Total                  |                         2271.55  |