Ayush dept educating people about boosting their immunity

: The state Ayush department has begun educating people on ways of boosting their immunity even as volunteers of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) started distributing an Ayurvedic drug, which they said has been cleared by Ayush ministry, for aiding treatment of mild and asymptomatic patients in home isolation.

The push by the RSS and the Ayush department has come days after chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s meeting with Ayush doctors whose cooperation he had sought in helping those hit by the pandemic.

Ayush (Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha Sowa Rigpa and Homoeopathy) ministry is tasked with education, research and propagation of indigenous and alternative medicine systems in the country.

The Ayush practitioners have also been promoting ‘yoga at home’ and deep-breathing exercises to de-stress the mind and strengthen the body and respiratory tract, Ayush officials said. They said the ‘Ayush Kavach App’ launched by the CM on May 5 last year had since gained more than 20 lakh subscribers.

Lucknow-based regional centre for Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) has been made nodal centre for nearly all eastern UP districts and Dr Sanjay Kumar and Dr VK Srivastava have been made nodal officers.

Cadres of RSS’s Seva Bharti wing have been distributing Ayush 64, the preparation developed by CCRAS, in villages. “In nearly 11,800 villages of Awadh region, we have distributed this medicine so far to patients in home isolation showing mild symptoms or largely asymptomatic,” said Diwaker Awasthi of RSS.

“The RSS began distributing this preparation that has been cleared by CCRAS and found it to be completely safe and useful for those with mild symptoms,” Awasthi said. Dr Ashok Dubey, a practitioner of Ayurvedic medicine, said Ayush 64, cleared by Ayush ministry, doesn’t have any side effects and has been found to be helpful in such Covid patients showing mild symptoms. The RSS has also been running community kitchen for the needy.