Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan on Tuesday released 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.
According to the Ministry of Ayush's statement, an Interdisciplinary Committee for integration of Ayurveda and Yoga Interventions in the 'National Clinical Management Protocol: COVID-19’, chaired by Dr V M Katoch, former Director General ICMR and composed of a group of experts with domain knowledge had formulated the report and submitted recommendations based on acceptable experimental and clinical data. These findings, indicating potential benefits and safety of the medicines, were presented before the National Task Force on COVID 19 and Joint Monitoring Group and subsequently developed into the protocol on the recommendations of NITI Aayog.
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.
Hailing the achievement, the Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that experts and other national research organisations have prepared the National Clinical Management Protocol (NCMP) based on Ayurveda and yoga for management of Covid-19 as per the report and recommendations of the interdisciplinary committee "which will further strengthen" the fight against COVID-19.
Dr. Harsh Vardhan said: “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emphasized following AYUSH advisories for management of COVID-19 crisis. This protocol dealing with preventive and prophylactic measures is a significant step in not only in management of COVID but also in making traditional knowledge relevant to solving problems of the modern time”.
Dr. Harsh Vardhan spoke of the role of Ayurveda in the colonial struggle when Sh. Harvilas Sharda had compiled a section on Hindu medicine to argue for India’s contribution to the World, “Ayurveda can be traced to the Vedic age as a subtext of Atharva Veda. The science travelled to Persia and from there to Europe and had a significant impact in the foundations of Modern medicine”. “Unfortunately, Ayurveda did not receive much attention after independence until Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi ji took up this cause with the importance it deserves”, he added.
He detailed the efforts of the government in promotion of AYUSH with ‘The National Commission for Indian System of Medicine Bill, 2020’ and the bill to confer the status of Institute of National Importance on the Cluster of Ayurveda Institutes at Jamnagar. “Their unanimous passage indicates the consensus in reviving traditional systems of medicine,” he said.
