Even after a circular from the central government, Maharashtra government has not issued an advisory to use AYUSH to treat COVID-19. IAS officers, who are groomed with a British-like mentality, are stalling the use of indigenous Ayurvedic treatment for the virus, alleged Dr Shubha Raul, former mayor of Mumbai and currently a member of the government’s task force to suggest use of AYUSH in the state.
“The central government has issued an advisory about use of Ayurvedic, Unani and Homeopathic medicines to prevent and treat the virus. The central government has given a list of medicines for this in their circular issued almost two months ago. The state government should have followed this and issued an advisory accordingly. But in the last two months, neither the advisory issued, nor the provisions for funds were done by the Medical Education Department. The secretary of this department is Dr Sanjay Mukherjee, who is a doctor and an IAS officer. These IAS officers are groomed like Britishers and they hate Indian traditional knowledge like Ayurveda. Therefore, he has not yet issued such orders,” alleged Dr Raul, who is also an Ayurvedic Doctor and Shiv Sena leader.
“I drew the attention of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to this and he then formed a task force under Dr TP Lahane for suggesting use of AYUSH. We have already recommended issuing an advisory for this to Dr Mukherjee. But he has not done anything so far,” she blasted.
The system always favours allopathic medicines, she added. “Even the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that use of Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) medicines may harm us,” she added.
“Ayurveda has proved to be one of the best treatments for the virus. Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Goa governments have immediately issued orders for this. Ayurveda is not only effective as a preventive medicine, but it was proved that positive patients heal fast with Ayurveda. A 200-bed Ayurved Hospital in Delhi has shown very good results. But unless the department issues an advisory, the state government and municipal corporations officials cannot use or distribute these medicines,” she stated.
“BMC has given Rs 10 lakh to each corporator to supply medicines during the pandemic. If an advisory is issued, corporators should be asked to supply ayurvedic medicines. The government should also make a provision of funds to distribute these medicines, especially to the frontline warriors,” the task force has suggested.
