AYUSH to integrate allopathic medicine | Fusion - WeRIndia

Ministry of AYUSH has been making efforts to integrate traditional medicine with allopathic medicine, and to improve the effectiveness in various conditions. Shripad Yesso Naik, the minister for AYUSH in the Parliament stated that various clinical trials have been conducted on “chikungunya and influenza like illnesses” and an MOU had been made with Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to jointly work for several projects including treatment for Dengue and Tuberculosis.

According to Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, Director General of the ICMR, government is finding new ways to encourage the integration of traditional and allopathic forms of medicines. In this context, ICMR will be liable to collect complete data and evidence.

The MoU was signed two years ago with the Unani council after which the then DG had written to all other institutions to cooperate in this regard. Dr. Soumya Swaminathan is the then Director of National Institute of Research in Tuberculosis. She conducted meetings with the Unani council to examine the compounds which are considered to help fight TB.

Yet, the treatment for tuberculosis need to be allopathic as Unani medicine can alleviate the side effects and improve the appetite as well as the weight of the patients. The latter can even improve the function of liver when the patient is suffering from jaundice. So far, the trials are being conducted in “animal models” and the results have formulated thereby. Now it needs to be tested on humans. The Unani medicine, in combination of prevailing TB drugs is to be tested on volunteers. If these trials give positive results, then there will be an integration of traditional medicine with allopathic medicines.

Regarding dengue project, several herbal remedies had been announced by the Ayurveda council in the recent outbreak. And these remedies are yet to be confirmed by the Ayush officials before entering the global market. At present, the studies are in the initial stage, and only four or five hospitals are testing certain ayurvedic formulations for their quality throughout the country. Clinical trials need to be performed in the labs for the scientific confirmation.

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