Responding to the need of fresh guidelines in the face of the emergence of the second wave of the pandemic, Ministry of Ayush has released today the revised guidelines for Ayurveda & Unani Practitioners for COVID-19 Patients in Home Isolation and Ayurveda & Unani Preventive Measures for self-care during COVID-19 Pandemic. The main focus is on self-care and home management of COVID-19, as the vast majority of COVID affected families in the country are forced to negotiate the pandemic out of hospitals.

These guidelines for COVID-19 Patients in Home Isolation and Preventive Measures for self-care are basedon  leads from classical  Ayurveda & Unani texts, outcome of   research studies, Report & Recommendations of the Interdisciplinary Committee  and  which will further strengthen our fight in combating  COVID-19  in the emerging situation.

These Guidelines and Advisories were developed through extensive consultative process by Empowered Committee within the Interdisciplinary Ayush Research and Development Task Force setup by Ministry of Ayush. The   Project Monitoring Unit for COVID-19 Studies, Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine (CCRUM), All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) and National Medicinal Plant Board (NMPB) of this Ministry worked on formulating the advisories and Guidelines.

The present Guidelines and self-care measures provide clear guidance to Ayurveda & Unani   practitioners regarding treatment of COVID-19 patients in different conditions of infection. This brings in uniformity and consistency in the Ayush-based responses to the pandemic across the country. It also helps State/UT Governments to plan and incorporate these solutions into the COVID-19 management activities being deployed on the ground. Furthermore, these measures and guidelines contribute to the mainstreaming of Ayush solutions for the management of COVID-19, and will be immensely beneficial to the public since these solutions are easily accessible and will help to alleviate the hardships brought in by the pandemic.

These are aimed to increase awareness among the citizens regarding the effective home care solutions and recommended Ayush practices, to help them to enhance their immunity along with standard guideline for Ayurveda & Unani Practitioners for management of prophylactic, Asymptomatic and Mild cases of COVID-19 during home isolation.

Ministry of Ayush issued an advisory on 29.01.2020 on how to protect oneself from COVID-19 and how to stay healthy. In this context, Ministry of Ayush has also promoted use of ready-made formulation like ‘AyushKwath’(Ayurveda) which is a simple admixture of four herbal ingredients which are well known in India and outside India for their immunomodulatory and anti-viral activities along with several other health benefits. Considering the seasonal changes, patient’s constitution it has been advised that Vasa (Malabar nut), Yashtimadhu (Liquorice root) and Guduchi (Giloy) may be added to the Kwatha as per requirement.

Keeping note on the present public health challenges due to second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, there is a requirement to urgently disseminate information about the Guidelines for Ayurveda & Unani Practitioners for the management of COVID-19 patients during home isolation. The effective evidence based Ayurveda and Unani formulations/measures such as AYUSH-64, Ashwagandha tablets etc. have been included for the management of Asymptomatic and Mild cases of COVID-19 during home isolation.

These guidelines are provided as separate documents on the Ayush Ministry’s website. Further, similar guidelines based the other Ayush systems are expected to be released shortly.

The links of guidelinesfor COVID-19 Patients in Home Isolation and self-Care:

https://main.ayush.gov.in/event/guidelines-ayurveda-practitioners-covid-19-patients-home-isolation

https://main.ayush.gov.in/event/ayurveda-preventive-measures-self-care-during-covid-19-pandemic

https://main.ayush.gov.in/event/guidelines-unani-practitioners-covid-19-patients-home-isolation

https://main.ayush.gov.in/event/guidelines-ayurveda-unani-practitioners-covid-19-patients-home-isolation-and-ayurveda-unani

https://main.ayush.gov.in/event/unani-medicine-based-preventive-measures-self-care-during-covid-19-pandemic

MV/SK