(a) whether the Government has been encouraging research to develop Ayurvedic medicines for different diseases in the country;
(b) if so, the details of the ongoing projects in different laboratories, State/UT-wise including Chhattisgarh along with the progress made so far in each case; and
(c) the steps taken by the Government to get international recognition for Ayurvedic medicines which are being developed in the country?
THE MINISTER OF AYURVEDA, YOGA & NATUROPATHY, UNANI,
SIDDHA AND HOMOEOPATHY(AYUSH)
(SHRI SARBANANDA SONOWAL)
(a) to (c) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA
STARRED QUESTION NO. 437* FOR 1ST APRIL, 2022
(a): Yes, Sir. Ministry of Ayush is encouraging research to develop medicines for different diseases in the country. The Ministry supports research on various Ayurvedic medicines through its research Councils, National Institutes, National Medicinal Plant Board (NMPB) beside schematic guidelines of Centre of excellence Scheme and Extramural Research Scheme.
The Central Council of Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS)is maintaining a website entitled Ayush Research Portal in which all published research information related to all Ayush systems are uploaded systematically for wider utility and visibility of research.
The glimpses related to scientific study of Ayurvedic medicinesin different research areas are as under:
i. 154 Classical Ayurveda medicines on 37 disease conditions have been validated under Clinical research.
ii. 27 Classical Ayurveda medicines in 12 disease conditions are under various phase of Clinical research.
iii. Pharmacognostical studies on 312 medicinal plant species have been completed and 22 Pharmacognostical studies and Quality control are under process under Medicinal Plant research.
iv. To ensure quality of Ayurvedic drugs, 431 pharmacopoeial standard of Ayurvedic formulations have been developed and phytochemical investigations of 220 medicinal plants used in Ayurveda have been done.
v. 175 Ayurvedic drugs including medicinal plants have been screened for biological activities. Safety toxicity study for 69 Ayurvedicdrugs including medicinal plants have been done under Pharmacological research.
vi. 12 technologies have been developed and commercialized through National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) for wider publicity.
During COVID-19,Ministry of Ayush has formed an Inter-disciplinary AYUSH R&D Task Force in convergence with different institutes like ICMR, DBT, CSIR, AIIMS and Ayush Institutions. The Interdisciplinary Ayush Research and Development Task Force has formulated and designed clinical research protocols for prophylactic studies and add-on interventions in COVID-19 positive cases.
The Ministry has also repurposed the polyherbal Ayurvedic formulation Ayush-64 in COVID-19 and launched interdisciplinary studies involving Ayush interventions for COVID-19 based on recommendations of Task force. Under various research organizations and National Institutes under Ministry of Ayush, 142 research studies in the country are being conducted on Ayush interventions. AYUSH Sanjivani mobile app has also been developed by Ministry of Ayush. And has documented the impact assessment of effectiveness, acceptance and usage of Ayush advisories & measures in the prevention of COVID-19.
An MoU has been signed between All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA), New Delhi and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSH&TM), UK for conducting the study on “Ashwagandha for promoting recovery from Covid-19 in the UK” on 22 July 2021.
Council for Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) in collaboration with various agencies undertakes Scientific validation and regulatory studies in accordance with National and International regulatory guidelines for Ayush medicines for their international recognition. CSIR-CDRI is having all the requisite expertise to scientifically validate the traditional method of treatments based on herbs, including GLP test facility for regulatory studies of the Ayurvedic Medicines.Further, CSIR-CIMAP and CSIR-NBRI have developed one of the Ayurvedic products viz.BGR-34 (NBRMAP-DB) taking leads from the Ayurveda for management of Type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).In addition, a project to validate and to explore mechanism of action and repurpose the medicinal plants-based therapy to combat the severity of COVID-19 infection is being implemented jointly by CSIR- Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants(CIMAP), CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology(IMTECH), CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research(IITR), CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine(IIIM) and CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology(IHBT).CSIR-Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants(CIMAP), CSIR-IMTECH and CSIR-IITR are jointly working on the project “Andrographis based therapy to suppress the severity of the COVID-19 infection by targeting host pathogenic mechanisms”
National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB) under its Central Sector Scheme (CSS) on ‘Conservation, Development and Sustainable Management of Medicinal Plants’ provides project based financial support to carryout research activities on various aspects of medicinal plants to government as well as private universities/research institutions/organizations across the country only. During last 05 years 64 projects were supported on various medicinal plants based research activities. A number of initiatives /actions have also been taken by Ministry of Ayush for management of COVID-19 pandemic including issuance of Advisories to States/UTs, general public, doctors etc.
(b) The Research & Innovation in Ayush is a component of Central Sector Scheme namely AYURGYAN Scheme (erstwhile Extra Mural Research Scheme). Under this component funds are provided for Research activities in all stream of Ayush (including Ayurveda). Under the AYURGYAN Scheme, funds are not released state-wise. Under Research & Innovation in Ayush component of AYURGYAN Scheme (Erstwhile EMR), 128 Research Projects including projects on herbal medicines have been supported since 2014-15.
The details of the ongoing projects in Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences may be seen at http://ccras.nic.in/sites/default/files/Notices/List_of_onging_project.pdf
(c) The Ministry has developed a Central Sector Scheme for Promotion of International Co-operation in Ayush (IC Scheme) under which Ministry of Ayush provides support to Indian Ayush Manufacturers/ Ayush Service providers to give boost to export of Ayush products & services; facilitate International promotion, development and recognition of AYUSH system of medicine; foster interaction of stakeholders and market development of Ayush at international level; promote academics and research through establishment of Ayush Academic Chairs in foreign countries and holding training workshop/symposiums for promoting and strengthening awareness and interest about Ayush Systems of Medicine at international level.
Ministry of Ayush has also taken following steps towards promotion of Ayurvedic medicines globally:
I. Ministry has signed 25 Country to Country MoUs for Cooperation in field of Traditional Medicine and Homoeopathy with foreign nations.
II. 32 MoUs have been signed with international institutes for undertaking Collaborative Research / Academic collaboration.
III. 14 MoUs have been signed with international institutes for setting up of Ayush Academic Chairs in foreign nations.
IV. Ministry of Ayush has provided support for establishment of 38 Ayush Information Cells in 34 foreign nations.
V. The “Ayush Export Promotion Council” has been registered under section 8(4) of the Companies Act 2013 on 04.01.2022 under the Ministry of Ayush in support of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to tackle the obstacles for registration of Ayush products abroad, undertaking of market studies and research activities abroad
VI. Ministry of Ayush under its International Fellowship/Scholarship Programme offers scholarships to foreign nationals for undertaking Ayush courses in premier institutions in India.
VII. MoUs have been signed with London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSH&TM), UK and Frankfurter Innovationszentrum Biotechnologie GmbH (FIZ), Frankfurt Germany for clinical research studies on mitigation of Covid-19 through Ayurveda.
VIII. Ministry of Ayush issued advisories on protecting people from COVID and staying healthy in English as well as in 08 other foreign languages.
IX. Ministry of Ayush provides Ayush Educational Training to regulators of foreign nations.
X. Ministry of Ayush in cooperation with QCI has got developed Quality Certification programme viz. Ayush mark and Premium mark to increase reliability of standards of ASU&H Products.
XI. Ministry of Commerce through the MAI scheme supported Ayushindustry to participate in prominent trade fairs, business delegations and also to reimburse the natural product certifications like Halal, Kosher, Non-GMO certification, USP NF food certification etc.
XII. WHO-GMP (COPP) has been given to 31 Ayurvedic Drug manufacturers to facilitate the export of Ayurveda, Siddha, and Unani & Homoeopathy Drugs.
XIII. An Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Pharmacopoeia Commission for Indian Medicine & Homoeopathy (PCIM&H), Ministry of Ayush and American Herbal Pharmacopoeia, USA signed on 13th September, 2021 for strengthening, promotion, and development of standards in the field of Ayurveda and other Indian Traditional systems of medicine between the two countries on the basis of equality and mutual benefit.
XIV. An India-EU Technical Working Group (TWG) on Ayurveda has been established. The Technical Working Group has the representation of technical experts from the Ministry of Ayush, Government of India, the European Commission, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and its Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products (HMPC).
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