Minister says India will soon cure COVID-19 patients with Ayurvedic treatment

By Rupesh Samant

Panaji, Apr 7 () Union AYUSH Minister Shripad Naikhas expressed confidence that COVID-19 can be treated withAyurveda, adding that in the absence of scientific validationthe ancient Indian medicinal stream has only been used as apreventive measure during the current crisis.

He also reasserted his controversial claim that PrinceCharles was cured of COVID-19 with Ayurvedic treatment andadded that the heir to the British crown is denying it becauseAyurveda is not accepted in the West. Naik had earlier saidthat a Bengaluru-based practitioner had treated Charles.

Prince Charles has denied it because he might behaving some problems in admitting it. His country does notrecognize Ayurveda, Naik said in an interview to .

It was obvious for him to refuse. I am hundred andone percent sure that he got cured because of Ayurveda, theminister said. He did not say if there was a specificAyurvedic medicine that purportedly cured Prince Charles or ifhe benefitted from a holistic Ayurvedic approach.

Naik said that once scientific validation of someformulas in Ayurveda is done, the country would be ready totreat COVID-19 patients with it.

When other systems like allopathy have failed, wehave a solution to treat COVID-19 through Ayurveda, he said.

The minister also alleged that a lobby was hinderingthe usage of Ayurveda as an effective medicine to treat novelcoronavirus in the country.

He said his ministry has been following up with PrimeMinister Narendra Modi as Ayurveda has a solution forcoronavirus, which is not offered by other streams.

We have been asked for scientific validation for theAyurvedic formula. But we must understand that scientificvalidation of Ayurveda has been done thousands of years back.It is a stream of medicine that has been passed on from onegeneration to other.

He did not say how the validation would have been donethousands of years ago for a disease that is known to havecome into existence only last year. There is no known cure forCOVID-19, which is caused by a novel coronavirus known asSARS-CoV2 that was first observed in Chinas Wuhan province inlate 2019. Scientists and pharma companies all over the worldare working fervently to create the first vaccine or firstcure for the disease.

The Central government will have to notify theAyurvedas formula to treat coronavirus. We have put up ourclaim before the PM after which he has acted and a task forcehas been formed, he said.

Naik said that coronavirus attacks the immune system.If you boost the immunity system, then the virus cannotattack you. It also affects your respiratory system. We have asolution to improve respiratory system."

Strictly speaking, the coronavirus SARS-CoV2 does notattack the immune system but attacks the respiratory system,leading to the disease. However, most of the damage in COVID-19 disease is caused by the immune system, which unleashes amassive defence to stop the virus from spreading. In theprocess, millions of immune system cells attack the virus andinfected lung tissues but end up wreaking havoc on the entirelung. This leads to shortness of breath, dry cough and othercomplications, leading to in some cases death.

The minister added that there is 60 to 70 per centcontrol on spread of coronavirus in India due to home remediesprescribed in Ayurveda, Siddha, and Unani.

"Lakhs of people are currently taking advantage ofit, he said. But he provided no details of where the peopleare benefitting from the Ayurveda cure or if any hospitals arerunning regulated programmes in this regard.

India is the only example where this virus has beencontrolled. We have already issued advisory to the people ondoes and donts, he said. RPS VJ VTVT VT