New Delhi: As the number of COVID-19 cases rises in India, consumers are increasingly turning to ayurvedic medicines and products in the hopes of boosting their immunity. Against the backdrop of an increasing number of COVID-19 positive cases in India, the AYUSH Ministry on Monday claimed that they can prescribe anti-various medicine.
Speaking to ETV Bharat, Dr DC Katoch, senior advisor in the Ministry of AYUSH has said, "The Ayurveda and Unani are the well-documented systems. Coronavirus is not mentioned in Ayush literature but there are certain medicinal plants which carry features to fight and lessen the impact of the coronavirus and Ayush practitioner prescribe such medicine."
"AYUSH works for preventive and promotion of healthcare. It improves immunity and strengthens body system. Our medicines are effective in disease resistance," said Dr Katoch.
"In fact, many of the state government have already issued advisory to adopt AYUSH medicine to fight coronavirus," Dr Katoch added.
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He said that according to the National Health Policy, 2017, the importance of AYUSH has improved drastically.
Referring to the isolation of Covid 19 by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Dr Katoch said that this has been recently isolated.
"In fact, modern medical science and Ayush can work together and collectively to fight against Covid 19," Dr Katoch further added.
Following the outbreak of novel coronavirus, the Ayush Ministry has also issued some guidelines. The ministry said that coronavirus is a large family of virus that causes illness ranging from the common cold to more serious diseases Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndromes (SARS-CoV).
The ministry said that the function of the immune system is critical in the human response to infectious disease. "Viral infection induces oxidative stress and cause damage to airway epithelial cells. A growing body of evidence identifies stress, nutrition and immunity as a co-factor in infectious disease susceptibility and outcomes. The mainstay in the management of coronavirus infections has been supportive care, nutrition and preventing further progression in the absence of any antiviral agent or vaccine," the ministry in an advisory said.
It is pertinent to mention here that Ayush proposes developing education, research and propagation of indigenous alternative medicine system in India.
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