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, is responsible for developing education, research and propagation of
traditional medicine systems in India. Ayush is a name devised from the names of the alternative healthcare systems covered by the ministry:
Ayurveda,
Yoga &
Naturopathy,
Unani,
Siddha, 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.
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,
Government of India in 2014.
The ministry of Ayush has faced significant criticism for funding systems that lack
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
Clinical trials on Ayurveda refers to any clinical trials done on Ayurvedic treatment. Ayurveda is a traditional medicine system in India and like other cultural medical practices includes both conventional medicine and also complementary and al ...
or other alternative healthcare systems.
The ministry has been accused of promoting
pseudoscience.
History
Emphasis on indigenous healthcare models
Successive
Five-Year Plans of India (produced by the
Planning Commission of India
The Planning Commission was an institution in the Government of India, which formulated India's Five-Year Plans, among other functions.
In his first Independence Day speech in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced his intention to diss ...
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, 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
Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM) was a statutory body under the Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India between 1971 and 2021. The CCIM was set up in 1971 under the Indian Medicine Central Council Act, (Act 48) which was passed in 1970 ...
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 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 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 (BJP) to power.
On 9 November 2014 the previous government department for traditional Indian medicine was elevated by the administration of
Narendra Modi 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 (TKDL) in 2001, on codified
traditional knowledge on Indian systems of medicines such as
Ayurveda,
Unani,
Siddha and
Yoga 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.
*
National Institute of Siddha - Was established at
Chennai for an estimated cost of ₹ 470 million; inaugurated in November 2005.
A joint venture between
Government of India and
Government of Tamil Nadu, 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 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 - Established in 1984 at
Bangalore, 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.
*National Research Institute for Panchakarma - Set up in 1971 at
Cheruthuruthy. 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
The National Institute of Ayurveda ( NIA) is a research institute of Ayurvedic medicine, located in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India.
History
The early institute was established as an independent Ayurvedic College by Government of Rajasthan in 1946 ...
- Set up in 1976 at
Jaipur, by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare an refurbished extension of the Government Ayurvedic College, Jaipur which was established by the
Government of Rajasthan in 1946. Offers research as well academic facilities; affiliated with
Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Rajasthan Ayurved University.
*
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 - 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. Offers a four and a half-year degree course in
Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery 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
Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM) was a statutory body under the Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India between 1971 and 2021. The CCIM was set up in 1971 under the Indian Medicine Central Council Act, (Act 48) which was passed in 1970 ...
(CCIM) - One of the professional councils under the
University Grants Commission (UGC) to regulate higher education in
Ayurveda,
Siddha,
Unani 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 - 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, or trans-science system instead.
Naturopathy is considered to be a form of pseudo-scientific
quackery,
[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 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'' in 2005 and the other by the Australian government's
National Health and Medical Research Council (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
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
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
BGR-34 (Blood Glucose Regulator-34) is an Ayurvedic-derived product that is sold in India as an over-the-counter pill for the management of type 2 diabetes. It was developed in 2015 by two government-owned laboratories and launched commercially ...
, 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. 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 claiming the herb was safe. Later, multiple studies in different Indian cities found cases of
liver damage in those with a history of giloy consumption.
Miscellaneous
''
The Washington Post'' 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 (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 alt ...
,
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