Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Sunday endorsed the role of Ayurvedic remedies in the prevention and treatment of coronavirus disease (Covid-19), praising their immunity-boosting properties.
Addressing the fifth episode of his weekly Sunday Samvaad, a person asked Vardhan why Ayurvedic treatment was advertised with various claims when the efficacy of Ayurvedic immunity boosters was not yet fully established for Covid-19 treatment.
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The health minister addressed the query saying: “Ayurveda has a holistic approach to disease management in which salutogenesis is an important approach to treating a disease and preventing it.” Therefore, for prophylactic care against Covid-19, Ayurveda interventions are prescribed after an in-depth study of the literature, including scientific studies, in silico studies, experimental studies and clinical studies, he said.
He added that the ministry has conceptualized and promoted public notices about the use of time-tested and evidence-based Ayush natural remedies for promoting health and modulating people’s immunity during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The recommended interventions for Covid-19 such as guduchi, ashwagandha, Ayush 64, and a combination of guduchi and peepli have a substantial number of studies testing their antiviral, antibiotic and anti-inflammatory immunomodulatory properties, Vardhan explained.
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These interventions have also shown good binding affinity for the Covid-19 virus in in silico studies, he added. In addition, following the recommendations of the interdisciplinary working group established by the government, scientific studies have also been initiated with the mentioned remedies to evaluate their impact on prophylaxis, secondary prevention and management of cases affected by Covid-19, Vardhan said.
His comments come in the context of questions being raised against the launch of the Ayush-based National Clinical Management Protocol earlier this week for the prevention and treatment of mild-to-moderate Covid-19 cases based on alternative therapies.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) had questioned the minister whether advocates for this claim and his ministry were prepared to volunteer for an independent prospective double-blind control study for the prevention and treatment of Covid-19. The largest body of private physicians in the field of allopathy had said that science demanded the reproducibility of a claim elsewhere in non-conflict situations and double-blind control studies.
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