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Under various research organizations and National Research Institutes 126 studies have been initiated in 152 centers in the country to identify effective medicine for managing the patients with symptoms of COVID-19. It include 42 prophylactic studies, 40 interventional studies, 11 observational studies, 22 pre-clinical/experimental studies, 01 systematic review, 08 survey studies and 02 monographs preparation. The system wise research studies include 66 from Ayurveda, 26 from Homoeopathy, 13 from Siddha, 08 from Unani and 13 from Yoga & Naturopathy. Total 90 studies have been completed and 10 manuscripts have been published.

The Ministry of AYUSH has formed an Inter-disciplinary AYUSH R&D Task Force having representation from Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and AYUSH Institutions. The Inter-disciplinary AYUSH R&D Task Force has formulated and designed clinical research protocols for prophylactic studies and add-on interventions in COVID-19 positive cases for studying four different interventions viz. Ashwagandha, Yashtimadhu, Guduchi + Pippali and a poly herbal formulation (AYUSH-64).

AYUSH 64, a poly herbal formulation developed by the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), Ministry of AYUSH has been scientifically found to be useful in the treatment of asymptomatic & mild cases as standalone and for the management of mild and moderate COVID-19 infection as an adjunct to standard care through robust clinical trials conducted in the country by Ministry of Ayush in collaboration with CSIR and by CCRAS and National Institutes under Ministry of Ayush. AYUSH 64 is also recommended in “National Clinical Management Protocol based on Ayurveda and Yoga for management of COVID-19” prepared by National Task Force in consensus from various expert committees.

Further, Ministry of AYUSH had invited research proposals under the Modified Extra Mural Research Scheme for SARS CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 disease from 21^st April 2020 to 10^th May 2020. 21 such research projects on Ayurveda medicine system have been funded under the scheme. Out of which 8 are of Private Institutions and 13 of Government Institutions.

This information was given by Minister of State for Ayush Shri Sarbananda Sonowal in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today. 

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