The Ayush push

The Covid-19 pandemic has witnessed quite a buzz around alternative systems of medicine in India, with all sorts of ‘immunity boosters’ being advertised, sold and consumed over the past two years. These concoctions have lacked uniformity in terms of quality and efficacy, leaving the field wide open for quacks and charlatans to make a quick buck. In a major initiative to promote and regulate the country’s traditional medicine industry, the Centre has decided to develop a mechanism to authenticate quality products manufactured by this sector. On the lines of the ISI mark for the standardisation of industrial goods, there will be a seal of quality for medicinal preparations falling under the umbrella of Ayush (ayurveda, yoga, naturopathy, unani, siddha and homoeopathy).

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Months after coming to power in 2014, the BJP-led NDA had established a dedicated ministry with the vision of ‘reviving the profound knowledge of our ancient systems of medicine and ensuring optimal development and propagation of the Ayush systems of healthcare’. The Ayush sector’s worth has grown from less than $3 billion to more than $18 billion in the past eight years. The ‘Ayush mark’, announced by PM Modi in the presence of WHO Director General Tedros Ghebreyesus at the ongoing Global Ayush Investment and Innovation Summit in Gujarat, can help in weeding out unqualified and unscrupulous practitioners of traditional healthcare. Ensuring conformity with the prescribed standards is a must for an industry that often finds itself under fire over misleading claims about treatment and prevention of diseases. Strict enforcement of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954, is needed to crack the whip on erring individuals and companies.

Another key area where much work has to be done is the pharmacology of Ayush drugs. Cutting-edge research is required to gain in-depth knowledge of the sources, chemical properties, biological effects and therapeutic uses of these drugs. A solid bedrock of scientific evidence and a robust regulatory framework can go a long way in making India’s alternative systems of medicine gain widespread recognition both within the country and abroad.