Lok Sabha Question No. 3067 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-13
Subject: Integration of Ayurveda with Modern Medicine
Ministry: AYUSH
Asked by: Shri P P Chaudhary

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AYUSH

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3067 TO BE ANSWERED ON 13 th  December, 2024

## 'Integration of Ayurveda with Modern Medicine'

## 3067. Shri P P Chaudhary:

Will the Minister of AYUSH be pleased to state:

- (a) whether any specific initiatives have been taken by the Government to integrate Ayurveda with  modern  medicine  including  research  collaborations  and  clinical  validation  studies and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the  details  of  projects  launched  during  Ayurveda  Day  2023  along  with  their  objectives and financial outlay thereof;
- (c) whether  any  studies  have  been  conducted  to  evaluate  the  effectiveness  of  integrated treatment approaches and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) the steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to promote scientific validation of  Ayurvedic  practices  and  medicines  through  modern  research  methodologies  in  the country; and
- (e) whether any awareness campaigns have been initiated to educate citizens about validated Ayurvedic treatments and if so, the details thereof and the outreach achieved therein?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF AYUSH (SHRI PRATAPRAO JADHAV)

(a) The  details  of  the  initiatives  taken  by  the  Government  to  integrate  Ayurveda  with modern  medicine  including  research  collaborations  and  clinical  validation  studies  are  as follows:

- i. Government of India has adopted a strategy of Co-location of Ayush facilities at Primary Health Centres (PHCs), Community Health Centres (CHCs) and District Hospitals (DHs), thus enabling the choice to the patients for different systems of medicines under a single window. The engagement of Ayush doctors/ paramedics and their training is supported by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare under National  Health  Mission  (NHM),  while  the  support  for  Ayush  infrastructure, equipment/ furniture and medicines are provided by the Ministry of Ayush under National Ayush Mission (NAM), as shared responsibilities.

- ii. In All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) -New  Delhi, the integrative medical services are available under one roof, with the following units:
- a) Centre for Integrative Ayush Therapy (Unani,  Siddha & Homeopathy)
- b) Integrative Cancer Care Unit
- c) Centre for Integrative Dentistry
- d) Centre for Integrative Critical Care & Emergency Medicine
- e) Centre for Integrative Orthopaedics
- f) Centre for Integrative Dietetics and Nutrition
- g) Causality OPD section

Further,  Satellite  Clinical  Services  Units  by  All  India  Institute  of  Ayurveda (AIIA)  -  New Delhi are available at: -

- a) Integrative Medical Services Unit at Safdarjung Hospital - New Delhi.
- b) Centre of Integrative Oncology (CIO) Unit AIIMS - Jhajjar.
- c) Ayurveda  Wellness  Centre  at  Lal  Bahadur  Shastri  National  Academy  of Administration, Mussoorie, Uttarakhand.
- d) Ayurveda  Wellness  Centre  at  Arogya  Van,  Ekta  Nagar,  Kevadia  Forest Division,  Statue  of  Unity  area  Development  and  Tourism  Governance Authority (SoUADTGA), Gujarat.
- iii. Ministry of Ayush through its Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS)  has  undertaken  various  research  studies  to  examine  the  benefits  and feasibility  of  integration  of  Ayurveda.  Further,  under  the  Extramural  Research Programme,  Indian  Council  of  Medical  Research  (ICMR)  and  CCRAS  under Ministry of Ayush has taken an initiative to set up Ayush-ICMR Advanced Centre for  Integrative  Health  Research  (AI-ACIHR),  at  AIIMS  to  conduct  research  on identified  areas  focusing  on  integrative  healthcare.  Under  this  program  four research areas in four AIIMS have been identified, which are as follows:
- a. AIIMS Delhi:
7.  Advanced  Centre  for  Integrative  Health  Research  in  Gastro-intestinal Disorders
8.  Advanced Centre for  Integrative  Health  Research  in  Women  and  Child Health
- b. AIIMS- Jodhpur:  Advanced Centre  for  Integrative  Health  Research  in  Geriatric Health
- c. AIIMS Nagpur: Advanced Centre for Integrative Health Research in Cancer Care
- d. AIIMS Rishikesh: Advanced Centre for Integrative Health Research in Geriatric Health.
- iv. Ayush medical facilities are also available in various All India Institute of Medical Sciences  (AIIMS)  such  as  AIIMS  Bhopal,  AIIMS  Bhubaneswar,  AIIMS  Raipur,

AIIMS Gorakhpur, AIIMS Patna and AIIMS Rishikesh.

- v. National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM), a regulatory body under Ministry of Ayush has taken the following efforts to integrate knowledge of Ayurveda with modern medicine: -
2.  NCISM has developed the Ayush Module - Internship Electives for MBBS for Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha system of medicine.
3.  As  per  regulation  10  (7)  of  National  Commission  for  Indian  System  of Medicine  (Minimum  Standards  of  Undergraduate  Ayurveda  Education) Regulations-2022,  the  proportion  of  modern  advances  in  Syllabus  for Ayurveda teaching content shall be up to 40 per cent.

(b) Ministry of Ayush had organised Ayurveda Day, 2023 incurring an expenditure of Rs. 1.70 Crore. On the occasion of Ayurveda Day 2023, a Grand Ayurveda Start-up Challenge was launched by Ministry of Ayush with fiscal incentives of 1 st prize of Rs 5 lakhs cash prize, 2 nd prize of Rs. 2.5 lakhs cash price and 3 rd prize of Rs. 1 lakh.

The main objectives of the Challenge were:

- i. To discover and recognize societal/sectoral problems that can be solved by Ayush and innovations of startups in Ayush Sector.
- ii. Identify  and  promote  the  start-ups  that  have  potential  to  solve  challenges  in  Ayush sector.
- iii. Foster and  advocate for the adoption of  technology and  innovation to drive sustainable growth in the Ayush sector.

(c) CCRAS has undertaken the following research projects to examine the benefits and feasibility of integration of Ayurveda with modern system of medicine:

- i. Operational  study  to  explore  the  feasibility  of  integrating  Ayurveda  with  modern system of medicine in a tertiary care hospital (Safdarjung Hospital New Delhi) for the management of Osteoarthritis (Knee)
- ii. Feasibility  of  introducing  Indian  System  of  Medicine  (Ayurveda)  in  the  National Reproductive  and  Child  Health  services  at  Primary  Health  Care  (PHC)  level  in Himachal Pradesh
- iii. Integration of AYUSH systems in National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases & Stroke (NPCDCS)
- iv. Feasibility  of  introducing  Ayurveda  Intervention  in  Reproductive  and  Child  Health (RCH)  in  PHCs  of  Selected  district  (Gadchiroli)  of  Maharashtra  (Effectiveness  of Ayurvedic intervention for Ante-Natal care (Garbhini Paricharya) at Primary Health Care level: A Multi Centre Operational Study)

Also, National Institutes such as All Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA), Delhi, Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda (ITRA), Jamnagar and National Institute of Ayurveda (NIA),  Jaipur  has  conducted  following  studies  to  evaluate  the  effectiveness  of  integrated treatment approaches: -

- i. Efficacy  of Gandhakadi  Yoga and Sharpunkha  Vati as  add  on  to  contemporary standard care in the management of Beejadushtijanya Pandu (Thalassemia Major) in Children- An open labelled randomized controlled clinical trial.
- ii. Efficacy  of  Nagabala  -  Arjunadi  Yoga  in  the  management  of  Post-myocardial infarction  (Hridroga)  as  an  add-on  to  the  conventional  treatment  -  A  randomized standard controlled clinical trial.
- iii. Efficacy of Vardhamana Pippali Rasayana and WHO rehabilitation guidelines in the management  of  Post  COVID  19  Syndrome  -  A  Double  arm  Randomized  Clinical Trial.
- iv. Role of lifestyle modification intervention and Triphala Kajjali tablet in the management  of  metabolic  syndrome  -  A  single-blind,  randomized  comparative clinical trial.
- v. Clinical  trial  on  Ashwagandha  for  promoting  recovery  from  mild  to  moderate COVID-19  symptoms  in  United  Kingdom  (UK)  I  collaboration  with  The  London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM, UK).
- vi. Understanding the molecular mechanism of guduchyadi tablets in combating COVID19 infection- In Vitro-In VIVO study, FIZ, Germany.
- vii. Effect of Guduchyadi tablet (Tinospora based herbal formulation) in the management of  newly  diagnosed  Mild  to  Moderate  COVID-19  Patients  -  An  double  blind Randomized Control Trial, WorkSure Medpharma Pvt ltd.(CRO), India
- viii. Efficacy  and  Safety  of  Ayurveda  Intervention  (AYUSH  64)  as  add-  on  therapy  for patients with COVID-19 infections.
- ix. An  integrative approach  to clinical  recovery  for  COVID-19  patient  using  an Ayurvedic formulation.

Further,  the  detailed  evidence  based  research  data  of  Ayush  Systems  including evaluation  of  effectiveness  of  integrated  treatment  approaches  is  available  in  the  exclusive portal namely Ayush Research portal (https://ayushportal.nic.in/).

(d) Ministry  of  Ayush  is  implementing  Ayurveda  Biology  Integrated  Health  Research component under the Central Sector Scheme namely AYURGYAN from FY 2023-24 with the aim to support to demonstrate a dynamic and vibrant model of integrated health research emphasizing  on  translation  of  key  outcomes  of  fundamental  research  into  evidence  based practices for mainstreaming through implementation research.

The  National  Institutes  of  Ayurveda  and  CCRAS  undertakes  clinical  studies  to generate  evidence  on  clinical  efficacy  and  safety  of  classical  Ayurveda  formulations  and therapies  in  various  disease  conditions.  These  clinical  studies  are  carried  out  adopting prevalent guidelines such as Good Clinical Practices Guidelines for ASU drugs (GCP-ASU), Ministry  of  Ayush  and  Ethical  guidelines  for  Bio-Medical  Research  (ICMR),  WHO guidelines for traditional medicines, etc. as per requirement.

Also,  CCRAS  has  undertaken  research  for  the  development  of  Ayurvedic  drugs through  a  systematic  process  of  Drug  Development  viz.  standardization,  quality  control, safety/  toxicity  studies,  and  clinical  studies  adopting  prevalent  guidelines  in  vogue  as  per requirement.

(e) Ayurveda  Day  is  being  celebrated  every  year  on  the  day  of  Dhanwantri  Jayanti (Dhanteras) notified by the Ministry of Ayush vide gazette notification dated 01.06.2017. The day is celebrated through undertaking various activities throughout the country for promotion,  propagation  and  popularization  of  Ayurveda.  The  Government  launched  a campaign  namely,  'Desh  ka  Prakriti  Parikshan  Abhiyan',  on  9th  Ayurveda  Day  (29th October, 2024). The campaign commenced since 26th November, 2024 till 25th December 2024, which envisages assessing the Prakriti of an individual citizen as per the principle of Ayurveda through a dedicated mobile application with the assistance of dedicated volunteers including  Students,  Teachers,  Ayurveda  Practitioners,  and  Ayurveda  Medical  officers.  The campaign  aims  to  encourage  people  towards  positive  health.  As  on  10th  December  2024, about 1.38 lakh volunteers have evaluated Prakriti for 26 Lacs Indian citizens above 18 years of age.

Further,  to  educate  citizens  about  Ayush  systems  of  medicine  including  Ayurveda, Ministry  of  Ayush  is  implementing  various  schemes  such  as  National  Ayush  Mission (NAM),  Promotion  of  International  Cooperation  (IC)  and Promotion  of Information, Education  and  Communication  (IEC)  wherein  there  is  provision  of  organising  awareness campaigns to educate citizens about validated Ayurvedic treatments.

The National Institutes of Ayurveda  and CCRAS create awareness about Ayurveda among  masses  through  their  IEC  activities  using  electronic  and  print  media  for  common people  in  English,  Hindi,  and  regional  languages,  which  are  widely  distributed  through National/State level Arogya melas, Health camps, exhibitions, expos. Ministry of Ayush is also digitally promoting the Ayush System of Medicine including Ayurveda through various Social Media Platforms i.e. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc.

Besides  the  school  health  programmes  and  clinical  mobile  research  programmes, other  outreach  programs  viz.  Schedule  Caste  Sub  Plan  (SCSP)  Research  Program,  Tribal Health Care Research Program (THCRP), etc., are also being carried out for the promotion of Indian Medicine System under Ayush including Ayurveda.  Under this programme, villages having SC/ST population have been selected to create awareness for preventive aspects of different diseases and to provide treatment to the patients in various parts of the country. \

Ministry  of  Ayush  also  create  awareness  among  citizens  about  Ayush  systems  of medicine  including  Ayurveda  through  its  various  institutions  all  across  the  country  by participating  in  poshan  maha  abhiyan,  seminars/  workshops  /  conferences/  school  health check-ups, providing healthcare services through the OPDs/IPDs of the units and treatment centres of Ayush, publishing peer-reviewed research journals/ newsletters/ publishing bulletin in different streams which are accessible online and are available to international readers.

The website of the Ministry of Ayush and the Autonomous bodies/ Statutory bodies/ Regulatory bodies etc under Ministry of Ayush are also embodied with information on Indian System of Medicine under Ayush including Ayurveda and hyperlinked with other important websites that provide information for wider utility.

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