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The Ministry of Ayush, a
ministry Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...
of the
Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...
, is responsible for developing education, research and propagation of
traditional medicine Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) comprises medical aspects of traditional knowledge that developed over generations within the folk beliefs of various societies, including indigenous peoples, before the ...
systems in India. Ayush is a name devised from the names of the alternative healthcare systems covered by the ministry:
Ayurveda Ayurveda () is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. The theory and practice of Ayurveda is pseudoscientific. Ayurveda is heavily practiced in India and Nepal, where around 80% of the population repo ...
,
Yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...
&
Naturopathy Naturopathy, or naturopathic medicine, is a form of alternative medicine. A wide array of pseudoscientific practices branded as "natural", "non-invasive", or promoting "self-healing" are employed by its practitioners, who are known as naturop ...
,
Unani Unani or Yunani medicine (Urdu: ''tibb yūnānī'') is Perso-Arabic traditional medicine as practiced in Muslim culture in South Asia and modern day Central Asia. Unani medicine is pseudoscientific. The Indian Medical Association describes U ...
,
Siddha ''Siddha'' (Sanskrit: '; "perfected one") is a term that is used widely in Indian religions and culture. It means "one who is accomplished." It refers to perfected masters who have achieved a high degree of physical as well as spiritual ...
, and
Homeopathy Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths, believe that a substance that causes symptoms of a dis ...
. The Department of Indian Systems of Medicine and Homeopathy (ISM&H) was first established in 1995 under the
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is an Indian government ministry charged with health policy in India. It is also responsible for all government programs relating to family planning in India. The Minister of Health and Family Welfare ...
. ISM&H was renamed as the Department of Ayurveda, Yoga and naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy or Department of AYUSH. The department was made into an official ministry by the
Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...
,
Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...
in 2014. The ministry of Ayush has faced significant criticism for funding systems that lack
biological plausibility In epidemiology and biomedicine, biological plausibility is the proposal of a causal association—a relationship between a putative cause and an outcome—that is consistent with existing biological and medical knowledge. Biological plausibility ...
and are either untested or conclusively proven as ineffective. Quality of research has been poor, and drugs have been launched without rigorous pharmacological studies and meaningful clinical trials on Ayurveda or other alternative healthcare systems. The ministry has been accused of promoting
pseudoscience Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or falsifiability, unfa ...
.


History


Emphasis on indigenous healthcare models

Successive Five-Year Plans of India (produced by the Planning Commission of India and later the
NITI Aayog The NITI Aayog (; abbreviation for National Institution for Transforming India) serves as the apex public policy think tank of the Government of India, and the nodal agency tasked with catalyzing economic development, and fostering cooperative ...
) allotted considerable focus to alternative, especially
indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...
, forms of medicine within the healthcare sector. The Government of India set up a number of committees for healthcare sector development, including Bhore (1946), Mudaliar (1961), and Srivastava (1975), that emphasized the need for improvement of traditional systems of Indian medicine. The National Health Policy (1983), National Education Policy in Health Sciences (1989), and National Health Policy (2002) further elaborated on the role of the Indian System of Medicine (ISM) and Homeopathy (H) as a means to facilitate healthcare access in rural areas where many Indians lack adequate health services.


Educational courses and ISM&H

A diploma course in Ayurveda was launched in the third (1961–1966) five-year plan. The Central Council of Indian Medicine was established in 1971. followed by Central Council of Homeopathy in 1973. The sixth (1980–1985) and seventh (1985–1990) five-year plans aimed at developing novel ISM&H drugs. The eighth (1992–1997) five-year plan lent considerable emphasis on the mainstreaming of Ayush. The Department of Indian System of Medicine and Homeopathy was launched in March 1995, under the
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is an Indian government ministry charged with health policy in India. It is also responsible for all government programs relating to family planning in India. The Minister of Health and Family Welfare ...
. The ninth five-year plan (1998-2002) ensured for its integration with western medicine. It was the first to tackle different aspects of the Ayush system in a standalone manner which focused on overall development including investment in human resource development, preservation and cultivation of medicinal plants, establish a more complete pharmacopoeia, and outline good manufacturing processes. The acronym AYUSH was devised in 2003. The department of Indian System of Medicine and Homeopathy was renamed the department of AYUSH in November 2003. The
National Rural Health Mission The National Health Mission (NHM) was launched by the government of India in 2005 subsuming the National Rural Health Mission and National Urban Health Mission. It was further extended in March 2018, to continue until March 2020. It is headed b ...
was launched in 2005 with the stated aim of integrating Ayush practitioners into national health programs, including in primary health care (Ayush medical officers at community health centers, para-professionals et al.) and to provide support for research in the field. The National Rural Health Mission listed the mainstreaming of Ayush as one of its priorities.


After 2014

Observers noted an increased focus on Ayush healthcare after the
2014 Indian general election General elections were held in India in nine phases from 7 April to 12 May 2014 to elect the members of the 16th Lok Sabha. With 834 million registered voters, they were the largest-ever elections in the world until being surpassed by the 2019 ...
s, which brought the
Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...
(BJP) to power. On 9 November 2014 the previous government department for traditional Indian medicine was elevated by the administration of
Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...
into a standing ministry that includes the promotion of yoga practice and the use of Ayurvedic products. The allotted budget for Ayush had more than doubled since 2013–14, and stood at ₹ 1428.7 crore for 2017–18.


Activities


Healthcare

The ministry runs multiple healthcare programs; primarily aimed at the rural population. Ayush is supposed to form an integral backbone of the
Ayushman Bharat Yojana Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana ( or PM-JAY'';'' also referred to as Ayushman Bharat National Health Protection Scheme or NHPS) is a national public health insurance fund of the Government of India that aims to provide free acc ...
and the ministry had long worked for integrating the different systems of Ayush with modern medicine, in what has been described as 'a type of "cross-pathy"'. More than 50,000 children have been enrolled in 'Homeopathy for Healthy Child'. It observes different days to raise general awareness about Ayush and promote each of the systems. The ministry had collaborated with the
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is South Africa's central and premier scientific research and development organisation. It was established by an act of parliament in 1945 and is situated on its own campus in the cit ...
(CSIR) to set up the
Traditional Knowledge Digital Library The Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) is an Indian digital knowledge repository of the traditional knowledge, especially about medicinal plants and formulations used in Indian systems of medicine. History Set up in 2001, as a colla ...
(TKDL) in 2001, on codified
traditional knowledge Traditional knowledge (TK), indigenous knowledge (IK) and local knowledge generally refer to knowledge systems embedded in the cultural traditions of regional, indigenous, or local communities. According to the World Intellectual Property Organ ...
on Indian systems of medicines such as
Ayurveda Ayurveda () is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. The theory and practice of Ayurveda is pseudoscientific. Ayurveda is heavily practiced in India and Nepal, where around 80% of the population repo ...
,
Unani Unani or Yunani medicine (Urdu: ''tibb yūnānī'') is Perso-Arabic traditional medicine as practiced in Muslim culture in South Asia and modern day Central Asia. Unani medicine is pseudoscientific. The Indian Medical Association describes U ...
,
Siddha ''Siddha'' (Sanskrit: '; "perfected one") is a term that is used widely in Indian religions and culture. It means "one who is accomplished." It refers to perfected masters who have achieved a high degree of physical as well as spiritual ...
and
Yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...
as a means of preventing grant of "bed" patents on traditional knowledge and thus counter
biopiracy Biopiracy (also known as scientific colonialism) is defined as the unauthorized appropriation of knowledge and genetic resources of farming and indigenous communities by individuals or institutions seeking exclusive monopoly control through patent ...
.


Institutions

The ministry is also at the aegis of several professional research institutes and academic faculties devoted to various forms of alternative medicine: * National Institute of Homeopathy - Established on 10 December 1975 in Kolkata as an autonomous organization under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Conducts degree course in Homeopathy (UG since 1987 and PG since 1998); affiliated to the
West Bengal University of Health Sciences West Bengal University of Health Sciences (WBUHS) is a Public medical university in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It was established in 2003 by an Act of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly for better management of the health and medical educ ...
. *
National Institute of Siddha National Institute of Siddha is an institute for study and research of Siddha medicine. It was established in 2005 at Tambaram, Chennai, India. It is one of the eight national institutes established across nation, for training and research in ...
- Was established at
Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
for an estimated cost of ₹ 470 million; inaugurated in November 2005. A joint venture between
Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...
and
Government of Tamil Nadu Government of Tamil Nadu is the subnational government for the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is seated at Fort St George, Chennai. The legislature of Tamil Nadu was bicameral until 1986, when it was replaced by a unicameral legislature, lik ...
, the proposal was approved, in principle, during the ninth five year plan period. Affiliated to the government-owned
Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...
and also the national headquarters of the Central Council of Research in Siddha (CCRS). Has an attached hospital—Ayothidoss Pandithar Hospital; on an average, 2,174 patients were reported per day (2017–18) whilst there's an in-patient (IP) department with a capacity of 120 beds. Further expansions are in progress. *
National Institute of Unani Medicine National Institute of Unani Medicine (NIUM) is an autonomous organization for research and training in Unani medicine in India. It was established in 1984 at Bangalore under the Department of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homo ...
- Established in 1984 at
Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
, as a joint venture between Government of India and Government of Karnataka. Initially offered research facilities but academic courses were set up from 2004. Currently offers post graduate courses (MD in Unani) in eight different specialties; affiliated to
Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS), centered in Bengaluru, India, is a public, affiliating university set up in 1996 by the government of Karnataka, India, for the regulation and promotion of higher education in health sciences ...
. *National Research Institute for Panchakarma - Set up in 1971 at
Cheruthuruthy Cheruthuruthy also known as Vallathol Nagar is a small town in India near Wadakkanchery, Thrissur on the banks of the Nila (Bharathapuzha) river. Administration Falls in Talappilly taluk (Wadakkanchery) of the revenue district of Thrissur. Thr ...
. Undertakes research activities as well as provides professional and academic training. The institute comes under the Central Council for Research in Ayurveda and Siddha (CCRAS) of the Ayush. * National Institute of Ayurveda - Set up in 1976 at
Jaipur Jaipur (; Hindi Language, Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Rajasthan. , the city had a pop ...
, by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare an refurbished extension of the Government Ayurvedic College, Jaipur which was established by the
Government of Rajasthan The Government of Rajasthan is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Rajasthan and its 33 districts. It consists of an executive, led by the Governor of Rajasthan, a judiciary and a legislative. Jaipur is the capital of Raja ...
in 1946. Offers research as well academic facilities; affiliated with
Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Rajasthan Ayurved University Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Rajasthan Ayurved University, formerly Rajasthan Ayurved University, is Ayurved university in the state Rajasthan. The university situated in Jodhpur was founded on 24 May 2003. This university affiliates about 42 c ...
. * All India Institute of Ayurveda - Established in 2009 at Delhi; offers research as well academic facilities. Brainchild of
Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee (; 25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was an Indian politician who served three terms as the 10th prime minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months fr ...
. Runs a secondary institute ''Rashtriya Ayurved Vidyapeeth''. *National Institute of Naturopathy - *
Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga The Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga (acronym MDNIY) is an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Ayush, Government of India. It is the nodal agency for Planning, Training, Promotion and Coordination of Yoga Education, Training, Th ...
- Promotes Yoga philosophy and facilitates training and advanced research, as well. The institute was started in 1970, in the form a hospital, by the now defunct Central Council for Research in Indian Systems of Medicine and Homeopathy, under the Vishwayatan Yogashram. The hospital was later converted into an institute, by name, Central Research Institute for Yoga (CRIY) in 1976, to provide free training to people and to organize research on yoga. In 1988, the institute was renamed to its current name. *North Eastern Institute of Ayurveda & Homeopathy - Established in 2016 at Mawdiangdiang,
Shillong Shillong () is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a Indian state, state in northeastern India, which means "The Abode of Clouds". It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the list of most populous cities in ...
. Offers a four and a half-year degree course in
Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (B.A.M.S.) is a professional degree focused on Ayurveda offered in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. Ayurveda is a type of alternative medicine, and the study of Ayurveda is pseudoscientific whi ...
and Bachelor of Homeopathic Medicine and Surgery. *North Eastern Institute of Folk Medicine - The NEIFM, Pasighat is an autonomous Institute under the Ministry of Ayush, Government of India. It is located at Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh. The ministry also monitors two semi-autonomous regulatory bodies:- * Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM) - One of the professional councils under the University Grants Commission (UGC) to regulate higher education in
Ayurveda Ayurveda () is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. The theory and practice of Ayurveda is pseudoscientific. Ayurveda is heavily practiced in India and Nepal, where around 80% of the population repo ...
,
Siddha ''Siddha'' (Sanskrit: '; "perfected one") is a term that is used widely in Indian religions and culture. It means "one who is accomplished." It refers to perfected masters who have achieved a high degree of physical as well as spiritual ...
,
Unani Unani or Yunani medicine (Urdu: ''tibb yūnānī'') is Perso-Arabic traditional medicine as practiced in Muslim culture in South Asia and modern day Central Asia. Unani medicine is pseudoscientific. The Indian Medical Association describes U ...
and Sowa-Rigpa. It suggests the professional benchmarks and practices for medical professionals in these systems, as well. The Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM) Act 1970 (48 of 1970) has been repealed and all the provisions of th
National Commission for Indian System of Medicine
(NCISM) has been come into force with effect from the 11th day of June 2021. *
Central Council of Homeopathy The National Commission for Homoeopathy (formerly known as Central Council of Homoeopathy) is a Statutory corporation, statutory body under the Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India. Central Council of Homoeopathy was set up by the Government of ...
- One of the professional councils under the UGC to regulate higher education in Homeopathy. Maintains central registers of homeopaths.


Economics

As of March 2015, there were nearly 800,000 Ayush practitioners, over 90 per cent of whom practiced homeopathy or ayurveda. A 2018 study by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) estimated the market share of Ayush medicines at around US$3 billion and that India exported Ayush products of a net worth US$401.68 million in the fiscal year 2016–17. The Department of Pharmaceuticals had allocated a budget of ₹1.44 billion to the ministry for 2018-2020 for manufacture of alternative medicines. The average expenditure for drugs on Ayush and scientifically based medicine has been found to not vary widely.


List of Ministers


List of Ministers of State


Criticism


Pseudoscience

A strong consensus prevails among the scientific community that homeopathy is a pseudo-scientific, unethical and implausible line of treatment.UK Parliamentary Committee Science and Technology Committee
"Evidence Check 2: Homeopathy"
February 22, 2010.
Ayurveda is deemed to be
pseudoscientific Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable claim ...
but is occasionally considered a
protoscience __NOTOC__ In the philosophy of science, there are several definitions of protoscience. Its simplest meaning (most closely reflecting its roots of '' proto-'' + ''science'') involves the earliest eras of the history of science, when the scientific m ...
, or trans-science system instead. Naturopathy is considered to be a form of pseudo-scientific
quackery Quackery, often synonymous with health fraud, is the promotion of fraudulent or ignorant medical practices. A quack is a "fraudulent or ignorant pretender to medical skill" or "a person who pretends, professionally or publicly, to have skill, ...
,Sources documenting the same: * * * * * ineffective and possibly harmful, with numerous ethical concerns about the practice. Much of the research on postural yoga has taken the form of preliminary studies or clinical trials of low methodological quality; there is no conclusive therapeutic effect except in back pain. Unani lacks
biological plausibility In epidemiology and biomedicine, biological plausibility is the proposal of a causal association—a relationship between a putative cause and an outcome—that is consistent with existing biological and medical knowledge. Biological plausibility ...
and is considered to be pseudo-scientific quackery, as well. There is no credible efficacy or scientific basis of any of these forms of treatment.Sources that criticize the entirety of AYUSH as a pseudo-scientific venture: * * * *


Research

Two systematic reviews, one by ''
The Lancet ''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal and one of the oldest of its kind. It is also the world's highest-impact academic journal. It was founded in England in 1823. The journal publishes original research articles, ...
'' in 2005 and the other by the Australian government's
National Health and Medical Research Council The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is the main statutory authority of the Australian Government responsible for medical research. It was the eighth largest research funding body in the world in 2016, and NHMRC-funded rese ...
(NHMRC) in 2015, found no evidence that homeopathy was more effective than a placebo. In a comprehensive review of alternative medicine (including Ayurveda and homeopathy) conducted in 2000, the UK House of Lords Committee on Science and Technology was unable to find evidence to support the value of these treatments.
Randomized control trials A randomized controlled trial (or randomized control trial; RCT) is a form of scientific experiment used to control factors not under direct experimental control. Examples of RCTs are clinical trials that compare the effects of drugs, surgical t ...
or RCTs for Ayurveda and homeopathy have been extremely limited as of 2017. Multiple systemic reviews have highlighted several methodological problems with the studies and trials conducted by Ayush and its associates in relation to developing an Ayurvedic drug for diabetes. A tendency to publish in dubious predatory journals and non-reproducibility by independent studies has also been noted. ''
The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...
'' reported in 2015 that India had yet to conduct a systematic review of any of the systems of medicine under the purview of Ayush.


Drugs

The ministry (in conjunction with other national laboratories) has been subject to heavy criticism for developing, advocating and commercializing multiple sham-drugs ( BGR-34, IME9, Dalzbone, Ayush-64 et al.) and treatment-regimes for a variety of diseases including dengue, chikungunya, swine flu, asthma, autism, diabetes, malaria, AIDS, cancer,
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. et cetera despite a complete absence of rigorous pharmacological studies and/or meaningful clinical trials. A 2018 systematic review of traditional and AYUSH medicine noted the existing regulations to be inadequate for ensuring the safety, quality, efficacy and standardized rational use of these forms of treatment. Researchers also noted a lack of monitoring for adverse effects from the usage of these drugs and of contraindication trials. The ministry recommended the herb giloy as an "immune booster against" COVID-19 and issued multiple press releases during the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
claiming the herb was safe. Later, multiple studies in different Indian cities found cases of
liver damage Liver disease, or hepatic disease, is any of many diseases of the liver. If long-lasting it is termed chronic liver disease. Although the diseases differ in detail, liver diseases often have features in common. Signs and symptoms Some of the si ...
in those with a history of giloy consumption.


Miscellaneous

''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' noted the efforts behind the revival of Ayurveda as a part of the ruling party's rhetoric of restoring India's past glory to achieve prosperity in the future. It also noted of the Ayurveda-industry being largely non-standardized and that its critics associated the aggressive integration of Ayurveda into healthcare services with the Hindu nationalist ideology of the ruling party. There have been allegations coming out of right-to-information requests that it is the Ayush ministries official policy to not hire Muslims as trainers. Some researchers have argued that the provision of Ayush services is an example of "forced pluralism" which often leads to disbursal of incompetent healthcare services by unqualified practitioners. Ayushman Bharat has been noted to increase privatization of state healthcare facilities and compel rural populace into preferentially choosing alternative medicine, raising concerns about ethics. The proposal of integrating Ayush with western medicine has been criticized. The
Indian Medical Association The Indian Medical Association (IMA) is a national voluntary organisation of physicians in India. It was established in 1928 as the All India Medical Association, and was renamed the Indian Medical Association in 1930. It is a society registered ...
(IMA) has expressed strong opposition to
integrated medicine Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and alte ...
, often by using the term "mixopathy". In 2020 and 2021, the IMA held nationwide protests to demonstrate against federal changes issued by the Ministry of Ayush that permit Ayurvedic practitioners to perform minor surgical procedures. The ministry had attracted widespread criticism after publishing a pamphlet titled ''Mother and Child Care through Yoga and Naturopathy'' which asked pregnant women to abstain from eating meat and eggs, shun desire and lust, hang beautiful photos in the bedroom and to nurture spiritual and 'pure' thoughts among other advice. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ministry recommended '' Arsenicum album 30'' as a preventive drug; the claim was without any scientific basis or evidence, and was widely criticized.


Response

The ministry rejected the
NHMRC The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is the main statutory authority of the Australian Government responsible for medical research. It was the eighth largest research funding body in the world in 2016, and NHMRC-funded res ...
's 2016 study on homeopathy which was regarded as the most rigorous and reliable investigation into homeopathy to date. In 2017, the ministry set up a committee at the Central Council for Research in Homeopathy (CCRH) to counter claimed western propaganda against homeopathy; the committee was ill-received.


Reception

A NSSO survey in 2014 found that only 6.9% of the population favored Ayush (3.5% ISM and 3.0% homeopathy) over conventional mainstream medicine and that the urban population was slightly more conducive to seeking Ayush forms of treatment than their rural counterparts; another survey in 2016 reiterated the same findings, approximately. A 2014 study did not report any significant difference between the usage of Ayush services by rural and urban populace, after adjusting for socioeconomic and demographic variables. Low-income households exhibited the highest tendency for Ayush followed by high-income households and on an overall, Ayush lines of treatment were majorly used to treat chronic diseases. The treatments were more used among females in rural India but no gender-differential was observed in the urban populations. Chhattisgarh (15.4%), Kerala (13.7%), and West Bengal (11.6%) displayed the highest Ayush utilization levels. A 2018 review article noted that the states exhibited differential preference for particular Ayush systems. Ayurveda and Siddha respectively show greater popularities in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Unani was well received in Hyderabad region and among Muslims whilst Homeopathy was highly popular in Bengal and Odisha. It further noted that the preference among the general population for usage of Ayush revolved around a perceived "distrust or frustration with modern medicine, cost effectiveness, accessibility, non-availability of other options and less side effects of Ayush medicines".


References


External links


Ministry of Ayush, Official website
{{Authority control A Ministry of AYUSH 2014 establishments in Delhi Alternative medicine organizations