New Delhi: The Ministry of AYUSH and the Council of
Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), country’s prestigious research body,
are working together on validating four AYUSH formulations against Covid-19 and
the trials will start in a week, Union Minister of state for AYUSH Shripad Naik
said on Thursday.

He exuded confidence that the traditional medicine system will
find a way to treat the deadly pathogen.

“The @moayush & the @CSIR_IND are working together on
validating four Ayush formulations against #COVID19Pandemic and the trials will
start within one week. These formulations will be tried as an add-on therapy
and standard care for Covid-19 patients. I am sure and quite hopeful that, our
traditional medicinal system will show the way to overcome this pandemic,” Naik
said on Twitter.

The different interventions in question are Ashwagandha,
Yashtimadhu, Guduchi-Pippali combination and a poly herbal formulation
(AYUSH-64).

The minister’s reaction comes a day after CSIR
Director-General Shekhar Mande had said that the study results will be out in
three months.

Mande observed that the ancient science of Ayurveda is based on
thousands of years of clinical practices that have been followed.

“So, we trust Ayurveda. We are not able to show the mechanism
of action like modern medicine does. Ayurvedic practices have existed much
before modern medicine practices come. Therefore, it is important that we
validate some of the Ayurvedic principles. So, the time is absolutely right
that in the fight against coronavirus. We try some of the Ayurvedic
formulations against coronavirus,” he said.