The clinical trials of AYUSH medicines on health workers and those working in COVID-19 high-risk areas have begun today, Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan said to reporters.
#WATCH …Clinical trials of Ayush medicines like Ashwagandha, Yashtimadhu, Guduchi Pippali, Ayush-64 on health workers and those working in high risk areas has begun from today: Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/dHKUMGCclX
— ANI (@ANI) May 7, 2020
The ministry of Ayush, the ministry of health and the ministry of science and technology along with the Indian Council of Medical Research started a clinical trial of traditional ‘Ayush’ medicines like Ashwagandha, Yashtimadhu, Guduchu Pippali Ayush-64.
The health minister said the Ayush ministry is also trying to study the impacts of Ayush-based prophylactic interventions in high-risk populations like health workers and those working in high-risk areas. The study will draw a comparison between the impact of Hydroxychloroquine and Ashwagandha for the prophylaxes against SARS-COV-2 in the health care providers with increased risk during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
It will also include the effectiveness of Ayurveda Formulation as an adjunct to ‘Standard of Care’ for the treatment of Mild to Moderate COVID-19. A randomized, open-label, parallel efficacy, active control, multi-center exploratory drug trial will take place.
The population-based interventional studies on the impact of AYUSH based prophylactic interventions will Abe carried out through four Research Councils under the Ministry of AYUSH and National Institutes in 25 states across the country and several State Governments covering approximately 5 lakhs population.
The Union Health Minister said that an app called ‘Sanjeevani’ has also been launched to collect information from 50 lakh people about the usage of medicines advised by AYUSH to boost immunity.
He added that the while the number of COVID-19 cases in the country was bound to rise considering that India has ramped up testing significantly, but “if you take into account the unfortunate deaths due to the disease in India, then we are better than even the top 20 big countries in the world.”
Meanwhile, the coronavirus positive cases in the country reached 52,952, including 1,783 deaths, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said today.
Currently, there are 35,902 active cases while 15,266 COVID-19 positive patients have been cured/discharged and one has migrated, the ministry added.
Maharashtra has the highest number of cases with 16,758, followed by Gujarat with 6,625 cases and Delhi with 5,532 cases.
