Harsh Vardhan releases clinical protocol based on Ayurveda and Yoga for COVID-19 management

New Delhi [India], October 6 (ANI): The Central government on Tuesday announced the National Clinical Management Protocol based on Ayurveda and Yoga for Management of COVID-19.
Health Minister Harsh Vardhan released the protocol in the virtual presence AYUSH Minister Shripad Yesso Naik. NITI Aayog, Vice Chairman Dr Rajiv Kumar and Dr VK Paul, Member (Health) of NITI Aayog also joined virtually.
Speaking on the occasion, AYUSH Ministry Secretary Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha said the COVID-19 pandemic has created immense challenges for health systems.
“Ministry of AYUSH has taken multiple actions to promote awareness in the country about the disease, possible methods to keep oneself healthy, to mitigate the possible disaster due to the pandemic, to support AYUSH stakeholders and to enable conducting scientific studies on the possible role AYUSH interventions,” he said.
“This is a general advisory. Attending physicians need to use their discretion to select the drugs based upon the stage of the disease, symptom complex and availability of the medicines. The recommended formulations in this attempt are in addition to standard approaches of care and prevention as well as other Ayurvedic approaches recommended for prevention earlier. Moderate to severe COVID-19 individuals may have informed choice of treatment options,” he added.
The protocols have been developed by an expert committee from All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA), Institute of Post Graduate Training and Research in Ayurved (IPGT&RA), and National Institute of Ayurveda (NIA), Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), Central Council for Research in Yoga and Naturopathy (CCRYN) and other national research organizations.
The 29th meeting of the national task force and Joint Monitoring Group (JGM) on COVID-19, held on September 1, 2020, recommended Yoga interventions as a supportive modality of care for COVID-19 patients including the post-illness phase.
Kotecha said that Ayurveda and Yoga play a pivotal role to augment preventive measures provided in the guidelines. “Ministry of AYUSH has brought out Ayurveda and Yoga protocol for the management of COVID-19 considering knowledge from Ayurveda literature and clinical experience, evidence and biological plausibility and emerging trends of ongoing clinical studies.”
The guidelines recommend doing gargles with warm water added with a pinch of turmeric and salt. Water boiled with triphala also can be used for gargling.
They also recommend nasal installation/application of medicated oil (anu taila or shadbindu taila) or plain oil (sesame or coconut) or nasal application of cow’s ghee (goghrita) once or twice in a day, especially before going out and after coming back to home.
The protocol also recommends steam inhalation with ajwain or pudina or eucalyptus oil once a day and adequate sleep of 6 to 8 hrs.
Moderate physical exercises and yoga protocol for primary prevention of COVID-19 and protocol for post-COVID-19 care (including care for COVID-19 patients) have also been included.
The guidelines point out specific measures and symptom management for prophylactic care in the high-risk populations, primary contacts, for asymptomatic and mild COVID-19 patients.
The AYUSH Ministry is also studying four studies covering a huge sample size for prophylactic care. It has also undertaken about seven studies on `Guduchi’ as prophylactic care on about 1.33 lakh population.
AYUSH ministry is also studying the combination in about 200 participants through two studies in moderate COVID 19 with very positive trends. It has also undertaken six clinical studies across India which are showing very positive trends. (ANI)