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.