India trying Ayurveda to fight against COVID-19, says Dr DC Katoch

Dr DC Katoch, an adviser in the Ministry of Ayush, stated that AYUSH Ministry and the CSIR have come together on validating four Ayush formulations against COVID-19. He also said that Ayurveda can make the immune system stronger and thus prevent the disease from entering the human body.

New Delhi: At a time when scientists in modern medicine are working hard to get anti-COVID-19 drugs, the AYUSH Ministry and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) have come together on validating four Ayush formulations against COVID-19.

Speaking to ETV Bharat, Dr DC Katoch, an adviser in the Ministry of Ayush, said that they have identified the formulations and a study is underway following the protocol.

The four formulations include Ashwagandha, Yashtimadhu (Mulethi), Guduchi + Pippali (Giloy) and AYUSH-64.

Katoch said that as there is no specific medicine for COVID-19 till date, Ayurveda can make the immune system stronger and thus prevent the disease from entering the human body.

“When talks were going on in India over COVID-19, Ayush Ministry issued an elaborative guideline on how to protect the human body from the disease. We got a good response and it was socially acceptable,” said Dr Katoch.

Significantly, an interdisciplinary Ayush R&D Task Force headed by Dr Bhushan Patvardhan, vice chairman, University Grant Commission (UGC), has formulated and designed clinical research protocols for prophylactic studies and add-on interventions in COVID-19 positive cases through a thorough review and consultative process of experts of high repute from different organisations across the country for studying the four formulations.

The experts are currently researching two subjects including Ashwagandha for the prophylaxis against SARS-COV-2 in subjects with increased risk during the COVID 19 pandemic: A comparison with Hydroxychloroquine in the health care providers.

The other study deals with 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-centre exploratory drug trial.

Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan have suggested people to opt for Ayurvedic medicine to fight any disease.

Interestingly, weeks after Union Minister of State for AYUSH Shripad Naik claimed that UK’s Prince Charles was cured of COVID-19 through Ayurvedic and homoeopathy treatment from a Bengaluru-based holistic resort, Dr Katoch said that Prince Charles is a strong supporter of traditional medicine.

“Ayurveda makes the body and the entire immune system stronger. Prince Charles was always a strong believer in traditional medicine and whenever he comes to India he gets Ayurvedic treatment,” said Dr Katoch.

Prince Charles is known for his support to homoeopathy and is the royal patron of the Faculty of Homeopathy.

Although there was no confirmation from the British Government on the claim that Prince Charles was cured by Ayurvedic medicine, a spokesperson for the Prince of Wales in London said that Prince of Wales followed the medical advice of the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK and nothing more.