Lok Sabha Question No. 758 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-07-23
Subject: Global Pandemic COVID-19
Ministry: AYURVEDA,YOGA & NATUROPATHY,UNANI,SIDDHA AND HOMEOPATHY (AYUSH)
Asked by: Mohan Mandavi, Chunni Lal Sahu

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION NO. 758 TO BE ANSWERED ON 23 RD JULY , 2021

## GLOBAL PANDEMIC COVI D - 19

## 758. SHRI MOHAN MANDAVI: SHRI CHUNNI LAL SAHU:

Will the Minister of AYUSH be pleased to state:

- (a) the extent to which success has been achieved so far in finding a cure for the 'COVID -19' pandemicwith the effective measures and medicines of AYUSH;
- (b) whether any steps has been taken by the Ministry to take care of people during COVID - 19; and
- (c) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE OF THE MINISTRY OF AYURVEDA, YOGA & NATUROPATHY, UNANI, SIDDHA AND HOMOEOPATHY (DR. MUNJPARA MAHENDRABHAI)

- ( a) i. The scientists of reputed research institutions of the country have found that   A - 64, a polyherbal formulation developed by the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Scie (CCRAS), Ministry of Ayush is helpful in the treatm ent 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 s afety and efficacy of AYUSH 64 in the management of mild to moderate  COVID- 19  patients.  Further,  Kabasur  Kudineer,  a  Siddha  preparation  was  als subjected to clinical trials to study the efficacy in COVID - 19  patients by  Central Council for Research in Sidd ha (CCRS) under Ministry of Ayush also found useful in the treatment of mi to moderate COVID - 19 infection.
- ii.  In  order  to  provide  a  maximum  benefit  of  Ayush  systems  of  medicine,  a  Nationwi campaign for the distribution of AYUSH - 64 and Kabasura Kudinee r through Research Councils and National Institute under Ministry of Ayush across the country.
- iii.  Ministry  of  Ayush  has  developed  Ayush  Sanjivani  mobile  app  and  has  documented  t impact assessment of effectiveness, acceptance and usage of Ayush advisor ies & measures in the prevention of COVID - 19  through  the  Mobile  app  base  population  study  in  around  1.5  crore respondents. 85.1% of the respondents reported the use of Ayush measures for the preventi COVID - 19, among which 89.8% of respondents agreed to have benefitted from the practice of Ayush advisory.

iv. Ministry of Ayush has formed an Inter - disciplinary  AYUSH  R&D  Task  Force  chaired  by Prof. Bhushan Patwardhan and represents scientists including ICMR, DBT, CSIR, AIIMS and AYUSH Institutions.  Th e Interdisciplinary AYUSH Research and Development Task Force has formulated  and  designed  clinical  research  protocols  for  prophylactic  studies  and  a - on interventions in COVID -19 positive cases through a thorough review and consultative process experts of high repute from different organizations across the country for studying four d interventions viz. Ashwagandha, Yashtimadhu, Guduchi + Pippali and a polyherbal formulat (AYUSH - 64. The task force has taken up the proposals received from scree ning committees of Councils and proactively explored possibilities based on available leads.

v. Ministry ofAyush has launched interdisciplinary studies involving AYUSH interventions fo COVID - 19 based on the Task Force recommendations. Under various resea rch organizations and National  Institutes  under  the  Ministry  of  AYUSH,  126  research  studies  at  152  centres country have been initiated on AYUSH interventions.

vi. Ministry of Ayush recommended self - care  guidelines  for  preventive  health  measures  a nd boosting immunity.

vii.    Ministry  of  Ayush has  issued  guidelines  for  Registered  Practitioners  of  the  respect system of AYUSH. The Director Generals of Research Councils and Directors of the Nation Institutes with their team of experts have prepared these guidelines and same is vetted I nterdisciplinary AYUSH Research and Development Task Force of Ministry of AYUSH. These guidelines  are  made  available  in  the  public  domain  to    benefit  the  registered  AY practitioners to help in the management of COVID - 19 pandemic uniformly.

viii. Minist ry of Ayush has also released Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha preventive measures fo self - care during COVID - 19 and Guidelines for Ayush Practitioners for COVID - 19 Patients in Home Isolation.

ix. Ministry of Ayush has also issued an advisory for Ayush pr actitioners on ethical practices during the COVID - 19 pandemic.

x. Ministry of Ayush has released Home care guidelines for children and Advisory for AYU Practitioners about prophylactic care in Children during the COVID - 19 Pandemic.

( b) &( c): The details regarding the steps taken by the Ministry to take care of people COVID - 19 are at Annexure .

1. Ministry of Ayush issued an advisory on protecting yourself from COVID - 19 and staying healthy. In the advisory, in addition to maintaining hygiene like han use of mask, etc. simple home remedies were also suggested for people.

2. A letter to all Chief Secretaries of S tates / Union territories was sent from the Ministry with more specific suggestions on augmentation of General Immunity of peo and  possible  Ayush  intervention  wherever  required  in  coordination  with  Hea departments of the States / UTs.

3. A letter was s ent to the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare to integrate an utilize huge Ayush infrastructure to combat the COVID - 19 pandemic.

4. Ministry has sent a D.O. letter to Principals of all Ayurveda, Siddha, Una Homoeopathy  (ASU&H)  colleges    (approximatel y  727  colleges)  for  utilization  of available infrastructure facilities like Hospital (IPD & OPD), pathology laborato and  manpower  including  medical  &  Paramedical  Staff  to  combat  with  the  COVID - 19 pandemic. Therefore, they were requested to offer the ir services to local health authorities for utilization of the available facilities by them as per the situation arises. the various Ayush institutes hospital were utilized by State Governments and desi as Quarantine Centre, Isolation Ce ntre, 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 uses video conferencing and social media platforms to reach ou the  Ayush  practitioners  and  involve  them  in  stopping  and  discouraging  false unsupported claims.

7. Ministry  of  Ayush  recommends  self - care  guidelines  for  preventive  health mea sures and boosting immunity with special reference to respiratory health.

- ■ General Measures
- ■ Ayurvedic Immunity Promoting Measures
- ■ Simple Ayurvedic Procedures
- ■ During dry cough/sore throat

8. 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 plat on a continual basis. Ministry of Ayush has coordinated with MoHFW for utilizatio Ayush manpower as COVID warriors to manage COVID - 19 with identified roles.

9. Ministry  of  Ayush  has  formed  an  Interdisciplinary  Ayush  R&D  Task  Force chaired by Prof. Bhushan Patwardhan and having representation from scientists incl ICMR,  DBT,  CSIR,  AIIMS  and  AYUSH  Institutions.    The Interdisciplinary  Ayush Research  and  Development  Task  Force  has  formulated  and  designed  clinical  resear protocols for prophylactic studies and add - on interventions in COVID - 19 positive cases through a thorough review and consultative process of high repu te experts from different organizations across the country for studying four different interventions Ashwagandha, Yashtimadhu, Guduchi + Pippali and a  polyherbal formulation (AYUSH -64).

10. 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 a symptomatic cases of COVID - 19, Public Health Rese arch, Survey, Lab - Based Research etc. to generate evidence.

Ministry of Ayush has also launched interdisciplinary studies involving Ay interventions  for  COVID - 19  based  on  Task  Force  recommendations.  Under  various research organizations and Nationa l Institutes under the Ministry of Ayush, 126 research studies at approx. 152 centres in the country have been initiated on Ayush interv Ministry  of  Ayush  has  also  taken  initiatives  to  conduct  clinical  studies  on  Ay medicine with countries l ike the USA, Brazil, South Africa, Ghana, UK, Germany, etc.

11. Ministry  of  Ayushas  issued  guidelines  for  Registered  Practitioners  of  t respective system of AYUSH. The Director Generals of Research Councils and Director of the National Institutes with their team of experts have prepared these guideli same is vetted by the I nterdisciplinary AYUSH Research and Development Task Force of Ministry of AYUSH. These guidelines are made available in the public domain benefit  the  registered  AYUSH  practitioners  to  help  in  the  management  of  COVID - 19 pandemic uniformly.

12. In orde r to make the process of product approval/licensing consistent at Stat level  for  effective  quality  control  of  Ayurvedic,  Siddha,  Unani  and  Homeopa medicines  underwent  clinical  trials/research  studies  for  COVID - 19,  the  Ministry  has directed  all  the State/UT  Licensing  Authorities  to  forward  license  application  of  s formulations with details and results of the clinical trial/research study for ver the  Central  Government  in  the  Ministry  of  Ayush  and  also  directed  that  all  Sta Licensi ng Authorities shall grant the approval or license to manufacture for sale such formulation only after obtaining clearance from the Central Government.

13. The  Ministry  of  Ayush  launched  a  three -month  campaign  on  'Ayush  for Immunity',  through  webi nars  and  publishing  a  campaign  bulletin  on  Ayush  for Immunity. More than 50 thousand people participated in the Webinar.

14. Government  of  India  has  released 'National  Clinical  Management  Protocol based  on  Ayurveda  and  Yoga  for  management  of  COVID 19' pr epared  by  the National Task Force with the  consensus from various expert committees.

15. Ministry  of  Ayush  has  also  released  Ayurveda,  Unani  and  Siddha  preventiv measures  for  self - care  during  COVID - 19  and  Guidelines  for  Ayush  Practitioners  for COVID - 19 Patients in Home Isolation.

16. Ministry of Ayush has also issued an advisory for Ayush practitioners on et practices during COVID - 19 pandemic.

17. Ministry of Ayush vide its D.O. letter No. Y -18020/2/2020 -EP - III has requested all  the  States/UTs  to  issue  appropriate  instructions  to  District  Authorities  ur involve District Ayurveda Officers in the management and mitigation of COVID - 19 in the districts and utilize he services of Ayush doctors, Ayush healthcare providers and Ayush  health  care  facilities  extensively  so  that  the  shortage  of  manpower infrastructure for the management of COVID -19 can be duly addressed.

18. States/ UTs licensing authorities / Drug Controllers have been informed to allow licensed manufactures for AYUSH - 64 under their jurisdiction to include a new indicatio of AYUSH - 64 for repurposing intervention for the management of asymptomatic, mild moderate COVID-19 in addition to existing indication (s). Further, States/ UTs Licensing Authorities have been requested to expedite the licensing/ approval of the applica the manufacturing of AYUSH - 64.

19. Ministry of Ayush vide D.O letter No.S - 16030/13/3030 - NAM has also requested the S tates/UTs Governments to popularize the use of Kabasura kudineer and AYUSH - 64 in the asymptomatic, mild to moderate COVID - 19 patients at isolation centres/ COVID Care Centre / Covid Health Centre, Ayush Hospitals/ Dispensaries and patients in isolatio n.

20. In  order  to  provide  the  maximum  benefit  of  Ayush  systems  of  medicine, Nationwide campaign for the distribution of AYUSH - 64 and Kabasura Kudineer through Research  Councils  and  National  Institutes  under  the  Ministry  of  Ayush  across country.

21. For continuing with the efforts to augment human resources for the manageme of COVID - 19 cases, the Ministry of Ayush has issued an advisory to deploy the tra Ayush  human  resources  available  with  them  for  clinical  management  of  COVID - 19 cases.

22. Ministry  of  AYUSH  has  released  Home  care  guidelines  for  children  and Advisory  for  AYUSH  Practitioners  about  prophylactic  care  in  Children  during  t COVID - 19 Pandemic.

23. To strengthen the community - wide effort to limit the spread of COVID - 19, the M inistry of Ayush has also operationalized a dedicated community support helplin toll - free  number  14443,  to  provide  AYUSH - based  approaches  and  solutions  for  the challenges raised by COVID - 19.

24. Ministry of Ayush has launched an Ayush Clinical Case Repository (ACCR) portal and the third version of the Ayush Sanjivani App. The Ayush Clinical Case Reposi (ACCR) portal ( https://accr.ayush.gov.in/) will serve as a platform to support both Ayush practitioners and the general public.