Misleading ads under Ayush lens
In a bid to curtail malpractices involved in advertisements relating to medicines, the ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (Ayush) on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) to address the issue of misleading ads relating to different fields in medicine. The ASCI will comprehensively monitor these advertisements in both print and electronic
The Advertising Standards Council of India will monitor ads in print and electronic media
The ministry will also redirect complaints against misleading ads to it
The ASCI will report ads that violate the Drugs, Magic Remedies Act, 1954, and Rules
media, and will process complaints through its Consumer Complaints Council (CCC).
The ministry will also redirect complaints against misleading ads to the ASCI, which will review them in accordance with their code and guidelines.
In the MoU, the ASCI will have to report advertisements that violate the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 and Rules as well as ASCI’s CCC recommendations to the ministry.
Commenting on the partnership, the secretary of ministry of Ayush, Ajit M Sharan, said that the MOU is yet another important step by the ministry to ensure that Indian consumers have access to safe medicines. The secretary added the MoU requires the advertising body to report any advertisement making wrong claims relating to diseases and disorders.
SK Swamy, chairman of ASCI, said that advertisements claiming treatment for certain diseases have been a cause of concern.
“The partnership with the ministry will provide support to curtail misleading advertisements,” Mr Swamy said.