Renewed faith in traditional medicine needs to be tapped: AYUSH Ministry

The industry size grew by 44 percent during the pandemic

At the ASSOCHAM Foundation Week, held from 15th to 19th December 2020, in a session- Future lies in the past – Leveraging India’s embedded knowledge to pivot the country’s growth story”, Dr Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India, said that there are tremendous growth opportunities for businesses in the sector as during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic most people in the country have turned to Ayurveda and followed Ayush guidelines in some way to keep themselves safe. 

Citing an impact study done by the Ministry of AYUSH on the impact of AYUSH Guidelines during pandemic he voiced, “More than 86 per cent people surveyed have said that they have used AYUSH guidelines and medicines during the pandemic for self-care. Around 1.47 crore people were surveyed online by the ministry out of which 15,000 were infected by the virus. Also, the 2/3rd people amongst the infected ones who followed guidelines had an only mild infection and did not suffer severity.”

Dr Kotecha explained that during the pandemic months a few medicines showed 500-600 percent growth, overall the industry size grew by 44 percent during those times. “We need to capitalize on the huge opportunity presented by the crisis and we all,– the industry, the plant growers, the state governments—should work together to grow the industry. Working together is the key,” he said.

He informed that the ministry is in talks with industry bodies like ASSOCHAM to come together and set up an ecosystem of supply-chain management in the country. “The National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB) also has signed 8 Memorandum of Understating (MoUs) with various industry members in this regard. We should follow the Kerala model wherein the medicine industry buys produce directly from the plant growers or farmers thereby benefiting each other,” he added.