The Ministry of AYUSH has initiated at least four
major clinical and population-based studies to assess effectiveness of AYUSH interventions
in prevention of Covid-19 and also as an add-on to standard care during treatment
of the deadly disease.

“The ministry has taken initiatives to address the Covid-19 pandemic
problem in the country through clinical studies (prophylactic and add-on
interventions) of AYUSH systems and also studying the impact of AYUSH-based
prophylactic interventions in high risk population. The ministry is also
studying the impact of AYUSH advocacies and AYUSH measures for prevention of Covid-19
among the population,” Shripad Yesso Naik, Minister of State for AYUSH, said.

Naik, along with Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, launched the clinical
research studies on Ayurveda interventions at a function in New Delhi on
Thursday.

The studies include: –

1)     
Clinical
research studies on Ayurveda interventions as prophylaxis and as an add-on to
standard care to Covid-19. The collaborative clinical studies are a joint initiative
of the AYUSH Ministry,  Health and Family
Welfare (MoHFW) Ministry and the Science & Technology Ministry carried out through
the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) with the technical
support of ICMR.

2)     
An
Interdisciplinary Ayush R&D 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 organisations for studying four different
interventions — Ashwagandha, Yashtimadhu, Guduchi-Pippali combination
and a poly herbal formulation (AYUSH-64).

3)     
Effectiveness
of Ayurveda formulation as an adjunct to ‘Standard of Care’ for treatment of mild
to moderate Covid-19: a randomized, open label, parallel efficacy, active control,
multi-centre exploratory drug trial.

Besides, the Ministry has initiated a
population-based interventional study on the impact of AYUSH based prophylactic
interventions in prevention of Covid-19 infection in high risk population. The
core objectives include assessment of the preventive potential of AYUSH
interventions for Covid-19 and the improvement in ‘Quality of Life’ in high
risk population. The study will be carried out through four research councils
under the Ministry and the national institutes in 25 states and several state governments
covering nearly five lakh people.