Ayush Min, ICMR launch trial to check drugs efficacy in treating anaemia

With an aim to back-up Ayush treatment with scientific and evidence-based research, the Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (Ayush) on Monday announced the launch of a placebo-controlled, double-blind trial of Ayush drugs to study their efficacy in treating anaemia among women, in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

The government has been working to make Ayush treatment more part of the mainstream.

Recently, sensing the growing demand and popularity of Ayush treatments, the insurance regulator has asked general insurers to engage with the core group of experts for the insurance sector constituted by the Ministry of Ayush and develop the required modalities for providing Ayush coverage.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India has also asked companies to modify products that contain limitations for Ayush treatments and ensure compliance.

The two-year-long study will include 3,192 participants, tested across eight different sites.

These are Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (MGIMS) Wardha, Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) Ranchi, KEM Hospital Research Centre, National Institute of Traditional Medicine (NITM) Belagavi and four All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at New Delhi, Bibinagar, Bhopal and Jodhpur.

Commenting on the background of the study, Ayush Secretary Rajesh Kotecha said that we had conducted a few pilot projects recently, which showed that Punarnavadi Mandura and Drakshavaleha gave good results in controlling Anaemia.

Speaking on the expected outcome of the study, Rabinarayan Acharya, Director General, CCRAS said that the research will help in establishing equivalence for Ayurveda interventions, leading to the public having a wider choice of drugs for iron-deficiency anaemia.

The Ministry of Ayush also launched five AYUSH-ICMR Advanced Centre for Integrative Research across four AIIMS campuses, focusing on cancer, geriatric and gastrointestinal care.

These centres are being set up to develop integrative health research through integrating Ayush system with conventional biomedicine, and modern technology.