Mint Hyderabad

Govt wants alternativ­e med researched

- Somrita Ghosh somrita.ghosh@partner.livemint.com NEW DELHI

The Ayush ministry is encouragin­g hospitals and wellness centres under it to conduct research to show the efficacy and health benefits of alternativ­e medicines, according to the ministry.

This is part of the Centre's push to widen the reach, popularity and acceptance of alternativ­e medicines.

Ayush works with six discipline­s—Ayurveda, yoga and naturopath­y, Unani, Siddha, Sowa-rigpa and homeopathy. The Centre has been taking steps to encourage Ayush institutes to conduct studies in collaborat­ion with Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

"During the covid pandemic the Ayush ministry did more than 150 research studies. The recent inclusion of ASU (Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha) disease nomenclatu­re in the Internatio­nal Classifica­tion of Disease (ICD-11) TM2 of WHO is another evidence of researchba­sed and collaborat­ive efforts," said V.D. Rajesh Kotecha, secretary, Ayush.

The validity of Ayush practices is sometimes questioned, and their applicatio­n is freathy quently limited to yoga and therapeuti­c activities. The ministry aims to dispel this myth and provide empirical evidence for their significan­ce.

"Standardiz­ation, clinical research and safety studies are the foundation of our research councils active across the nation.

The ministry has also undertaken various collaborat­ive research projects, following an integrativ­e research model for scientific evidence generation in the Ayush sector at institutio­ns of national repute like CSIR, DBT, AIIMS, ILBS and more, apart from many internatio­nal collaborat­ions," Kotecha added.

There are five research councils under the ministry of Ayush—the Centre Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), Central Council for Research in Homeopathy (CCRH), Central Council for research in Unani Medicine (CCRUM), Central Council for Research in Yoga and Naturop(CCRYN), and Central Council Research in Siddha (CCRS).

The CCRAS, an autonomous body under the ministry has been undertakin­g, coordinati­ng, formulatin­g and promoting scientific research on Ayurveda.

As per the ministry, the CCRAS has already conducted clinical research on 50 health issues such as cardiovasc­ular diseases, hemiplegia, malaria, obesity and lipid disorder, peptic ulcer, asthma and chronic bronchitis.

Currently, there are 30 institutes which are working in clinical research programmes with the CCRAS such as Central Ayurveda Research Institute in Delhi, Bhubaneshw­ar, Kolkata, Patiala, and Regional Ayurveda Research Institutes in Jaipur, Lucknow and other cities.

Focusing on the importance ofevidence-basedresea­rchand innovation and recognizin­g the global shift towards chronic and non-communicab­le diseases, the ministry emphasized integratin­g traditiona­l systems with convention­al medicine to promote a holistic and patientcen­tric healthcare approach. It has developed general guidelines for research and developmen­t in Ayush.

The ministry is encouragin­g research to show the efficacy and health benefits of alternativ­e medicines

 ?? HT ?? Ayush works with six discipline­s—Ayurveda, yoga & naturopath­y, Unani, Siddha, Sowa-rigpa and homeopathy.
HT Ayush works with six discipline­s—Ayurveda, yoga & naturopath­y, Unani, Siddha, Sowa-rigpa and homeopathy.

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