Lok Sabha Question No. 2235 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-10
Subject: Ayurveda and Yoga Interventions
Ministry: AYURVEDA,YOGA & NATUROPATHY,UNANI,SIDDHA AND HOMEOPATHY (AYUSH)
Asked by: Thomas Chazhikadan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AYUSH

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2235 TO BE ANSWERED ON 10 TH  DECEMBER, 2021

## AYURVEDA AND YOGA INTERVENTIONS

## 2235. SHRI THOMAS CHAZHIKADAN:

Will the Minister of AYUSH be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has published recommendations to integrate Ayurveda and Yoga interventions in India's national clinical management protocol for COVID- 19 pandemic;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether any comprehensive studies were conducted on people to test the efficacy of such interventions before the publication of recommendations; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof including the citations of such published studies?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF AYUSH (SHRI SARBANANDA SONOWAL)

(DR. MAH

(a)& (b): The 'National Clinical Management Protocol based on Ayurveda and Yoga for management of COVID-19' was launched on 06 th October, 2020 and is available at https://www.ayush.gov.in/.

## (c) &(d):

- i. Ministry of AYUSH issued Gazette notification for undertaking research on COVID19 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 Taskforce recommendations. Under various research organizations and National Institutes under the Ministry of AYUSH, 138 research studies in the country are being conducted on AYUSH.

- ii. AYUSH Sanjivani mobile app has also been developed by the 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.
- iii. Research studies have been undertaken by Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic  Sciences  (CCRAS)  under  Ministry  of  Ayush  on  Guduchighanvati, AYUSH-64,  Guduchi-Pippali  in  asymptomatic  and  mild  to  moderate  cases  of COVID-19  and  Guduchighanvati,  Ashwagandha,  Chyavanprash  for  COVID-19 prophylaxis. Further, one in-silico study was undertaken on AYUSH-64. The details of the published articles and preprints of the completed studies are in Annexure-I .
- iv. A  research  project  has  been  undertakenCentral  Council  forResearch  in  Yoga  & Naturopathy (CCRYN) under Ministry of Ayush to verify the efficacy of Yoga in the early  recovery  of  COVID-19  patients  in  collaboration  with  Rajiv  Gandhi  Super Specialty Hospital, Delhi. Details are in Annexure II.

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## Published articles

1. A Pilot Clinical study of an add on Ayurvedic formulation containing Guduchi and Pippali in  mild  to  moderate  Covid-19. J  Ayurveda  Integr Med. 2021. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34127896/
2. AYUSH-64 as an add-on to standard care in asymptomatic and mild cases of COVID-19: A randomized controlled trial. AYU 2020;41:107-16

https://www.ayujournal.org/temp/Ayu412107-2244506\_061405.pdf

3. Withania somnifera as a Safer Option to Hydroxychloroquine in the Chemoprophylaxis of COVID-19: Results of Interim Analysis. Complement Ther Med. 2021 Aug 18:102768. doi: 10.1016/j.ctim.2021.102768.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34418550/
4.  Chyawanprash  as  add  on  to  the  standard  of  care  in  preventing  COVID-19  infection among  apparently  healthy  health  care  workers  -  A  single  arm,  longitudinal  study.  Ann Ayurvedic Med. 2021; 10(3) 204-219. doi: 10.5455/AAM.73639 https://www.aamjournal.in/fulltext/70-1618564006.pdf?1634793008
5. In silico evaluation of the compounds of the ayurvedic drug, AYUSH-64, for the action against  the  SARS-CoV-2  main  protease.  Journal  of  Ayurveda  and  Integrative  Medicine 2021. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33654345/

## Preprints

1. Chyawanprash for the prevention of COVID-19 infection among healthcare workers: A Randomized Controlled Trial

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.02.17.21251899v2

2. An  Open  label  prospective  interventional  study  to  assess  the  prophylactic  effect  of Guduchi GhanVati in COVID-19: A community-based study in a containment zone of Himachal Pradesh, India. https://osf.io/8vwsy
3. Efficacy and safety of Guduchi Ghan Vati in asymptomatic and mild to moderate cases of COVID-19: A randomized controlled pilot study. https://osf.io/c8f9h

## Annexure -I

4. Coadministration of AYUSH 64 as an adjunct to Standard of Care in mild and moderate COVID-19: A randomised, controlled, multicentric clinical trial. https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.12.21258345v1.
5. AYUSH-64 as an adjunct to Standard Care in mild to moderate COVID-19: An openlabel randomized controlled trial in Chandigarh, India. https://osf.io/xyuas/
6. Effect  of  an  Ayurvedic  intervention  (Ayush-64)  in  mild  to  moderate  COVID-19:  An exploratory prospective single arm clinical trial.https://osf.io/azb9t/
7. Ayurveda formulation  AYUSH 64 in asymptomatic and mild COVID 19 infection-A prospective, open label Clinical Study. https://osf.io/6xa9u/
8. A safer option to hydroxychloroquine in the chemoprophylaxis of COVID-19 in highrisk health- care workers: A randomized controlled, non-inferiority trial. https://osf.io/s3v6k/

## Annexure-II

- i. A  research  project  titled  'Effect  of  an  integrated  Yoga  program  on  stress,  mood stress,  sleep  quality,  symptom  severity,  quality  of  life  and  clinical  outcomes  in Covid-19 positive patients undergoing conventional treatment' has been completed.
- ii. A  research  project  titled  'Effect  of  an  integrated  Yoga  program  on  stress,  mood stress,  sleep  quality,  symptom  severity,  quality  of  life  and  clinical  outcomes  in Covid-19 positive patients undergoing conventional treatment' has been initiated at three centres (RGSSH, Delhi, AIIIMS, Jhajjar and KHMC, Delhi)