Misleading Ayush ads under scanner

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 19

Alarmed by unbridled marketing of Ayush (Ayurvedic, Unani, Siddha, naturopathy and homeopathy) drugs across media platforms, including print and television channels, the government has roped in the apex advertising regulatory body to check misleading claims of persons and companies.

The Advertising Standards Council of India, a voluntary organisation of all advertising firms in India, will tomorrow make a formal commitment to the government to monitor Ayush-related ads on all ad platforms and report gaps, besides enforcing self-regulation.

At present, there is no mechanism in place to penalise companies and individuals selling Ayush products on the basis of false and unsubstantiated claims. Private television channels are emerging as a favourite place for marketers, who are getting away by buying ad time and selling products that could be spurious and have serious health effects.

To check the trend, the Ministry of Ayush and the ASCI will now sign a memorandum of understanding under which the ASCI will agree, for the first time, to some clauses that will ensure non-verified Ayush system medicines and products do not make it to consumers through false advertising. Official sources said thanks to easy and non-penalizing advertising of traditional systems of medicines, a parallel industry is flourishing which is misleading unsuspecting people through TV ads.

There is no stringent mechanism as of now to ensure accountability of Ayush system advertisers. A complaint received in the Ayush Ministry is normally sent to the state drug licensing authorities, which can take action under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, the Act governing Ayush systems. There is little or no penalty for misinforming consumers.

The government is also considering a parallel vertical structure for Ayush drug regulation under the apex drug controller, the Central Drugs Standards Control Organisation.