Guidelines for Ayurveda & Unani Practitioners for COVID-19 Patients

MINISTRY OF AYUSH
Note dated 26th April 2021

Guidelines for Ayurveda & Unani Practitioners for COVID-19 Patients in
Home Isolation and Ayurveda & Unani Preventive Measures for self care
during COVID-19 Pandemic released by Ministry of Ayush
Guidelines for Ayurveda & Unani Practitioners for COVID-19 Patients in Home
Isolation and Ayurveda & Unani Preventive Measures for self care during COVID19 Pandemic were released by Ministry of Ayush, Government of India on 26th
April 2021.
These guidelines for COVID-19 Patients in Home Isolation and Preventive
Measures for self care are based on based on 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 Ayushbased 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 ‘Ayush
Kwath’(Ayurveda) which is a simple admixture of four herbal ingredients which
are well known in India and outside India for their immunomodulatory and antiviral 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 an urgent requirement to 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.