Boost for wellness - Assam unveils AYUSH body to increase effectiveness in medical treatment | |
 Jorhat, May 25: There was a time when India earned renown for alternative routes for curing diseases. Yogis and ayurved practitioners had an enviable following, as “return to Nature” was the mantra that gained popularity. Taking a leaf from that wellness mode, the Assam government has sanctioned the establishment of a new separate directorate for AYUSH (Ayurvedic, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy).   Commissioner and secretary of the health and family welfare department J.C Goswami, in a notification issued in the name of Governor J.B. Patnaik, said the new directorate was being set up to accord special attention to medical education, planning, training and research for the branches of medicine falling under AYUSH.The notification said all the three government homoeopathy colleges and hospitals and the only government ayurved college in the state would come under the administrative control of the new directorate. The homeopathic colleges and hospitals are in Jorhat, Nagaon and Guwahati, while the ayurvedic one is in Guwahati. There will be a separate wing of AYUSH in all the civil hospitals of the districts and subdivisions, upto the sub-centre level.  It also said the directorate would be set up to increase effectiveness in government and private health service delivery, production and monitoring quality of drugs and implementation of government policies regarding alternative systems of medicines.The notification said the new directorate would look after the infrastructure and manpower planning and execution with regard to building, personnel, equipment and supplies of the institutions and offices it will govern. The directorate will also deal with all issues related to governance and workforce management (promotions and transfers of non-gazetted employees) of the AYUSH sector. It said the directorate will promote indigenous, traditional and community medicine research in the state and co-ordinate with various councils of alternative medicines under the AYUSH sector.  The notification included a letter by the deputy secretary of the health and family welfare department, C. Barua, to the accountant general of Assam, which said the government had given the financial approval to create 23 posts to run the new directorate.The list of new posts includes one director, one joint director, two deputy directors, one financial and accounts officer, one superintendent, two upper division clerks, one accountant, one cashier, four lower division clerks, one stenographer, three typist-cum-computer operators, one chowkidar and four peons-cum-chowkidars. Official sources said the government had taken the decision to accord priority to the AYUSH sector with a rise in the popularity of medicines of non-allopathic drugs.  The Centre had established a department of Indian system of medicine and homoeopathy in March 1995 and renamed it AYUSH in November 2003, under the Union health and family welfare ministry. The aim was to provide special attention to the development of research in the fields of AYUSH and upgrade the educational standards, quality control and standardisation of drugs, improve the availability of medicinal plant materials and create awareness about AYUSH systems, domestically and globally. |
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Medicinal plants to get good quality tag
NEW DELHI: India's wonder plants with medicinal properties will now come with a special "good quality tag" with the government putting in place a voluntary certification scheme for medicinal plant produce based on good agricultural practices and good field collection practices.
This, the government said, will enhance confidence in the quality of India's medicinal plant produce and make available good quality raw material to the ayurvedic and herbal drugs industry.
Under the scheme, launched jointly by the National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB) and the Quality Council of India (QCI), any producer/collector or group of producers/collectors can obtain certification from a designated certification body (CB) and will be under regular surveillance of the certification body.
An option of getting a lot inspected and certified has also been made in the scheme. It also allows certification of intermediaries like traders who may source certified medicinal plant material and supply further thereafter.
India has 15 agro climatic zones and 18,000 species of flowering plants of which 7,000 are estimated to have medicinal usage in folk and documented systems of medicine, like ayurveda, siddha, unani and homoeopathy. About 960 species of medicinal plants are estimated to be in trade of which 178 species have annual consumption levels in excess of 100 tonnes.
The domestic trade of the AYUSH industry is of the order of Rs 90 billion. Indian medicinal plants and their products also account for exports of around Rs 10 billion.Experts say there is a global resurgence in traditional and alternative health care systems resulting in growing world herbal trade which stands at $120 billion and is expected to reach $7 trillion by 2050. Indian share in the world trade, at present, however, is quite low.
Dr G J Gyani, secretary general of QCI, said, "The scheme has been designed keeping best international practices in view – the standards are based on WHO documents which were adopted by NMPB and the compliance checking will be done by independent, third party agencies conforming to international standards. The aim is not only to provide medicinal plants producers a means of differentiating themselves based on quality and sustainability but also obtain international acceptance for the scheme in the long run."
According to experts, the voluntary certification scheme will reduce risk of recall/rejection of Indian produce in the international market, increase buyer confidence in Indian herbs.
Labs duly accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) will be used under the scheme.
Over 100 'traditional' drugs found unsuitable for humans sold openly in India |
 Many common alternative drugs failed tests for export. It's shocking, but true. Hundreds of popular ayurvedic, homoeopathic and Unani medicines, which have been declared as either "unfit for human consumption", or have otherwise failed to pass essential quality tests for becoming eligible to be exported, are being freely sold in medical stores in Delhi and elsewhere. Even more shockingly, these drugs have been certified unsafe by a government testing lab. But the Delhi government authority responsible for ensuring compliance with the rules on the part of manufacturers and sellers - the drug control department - professes to be unaware of the practice! "We have no information of such a practice. We will look into the matter seriously," said Ravi Kant, drug controller of Delhi AYUSH (ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and homoeopathy), department of the ministry of health and family welfare.  According to documents available, over 100 medicines failed to pass quality tests due to "substandard" quality, presence of heavy metals, or prohibited drugs and/or prescription allopathic drugs in alleged "herbal" medicines, are all being openly sold in the market. Such prohibited content can have adverse and serious effects on the human body on consumption, health experts confirmed. For instance, 'Missile Power' capsules and 'Xtra Power' capsules, tested at the government of India's Pharmacopoeial Laboratory for Indian Medicine in Ghaziabad, were found to contain Sildenafil Citrate, the chemical in prescription drug Viagra. This is not allowed in Ayurveda products, but both were found to be readily available in medical stores visited by this correspondent. These capsules are consumed for enhancing sexual performance. Even drugs meant for children were not spared. 'N Tone' syrup (a paediatric tonic for newborns) manufactured by On Ayurvedics, when tested, was found unfit for human consumption as it contained suspended particles. The tonic is easily available on the internet and in homeopathic stores. 'Mrit Sanjivani Sura', medicinal syrup manufactured by Dabur India Limited, was found exceeding the legal limit of alcohol content, 16 per cent. The tested sample was found to contain 20.56 per cent alcohol.  Samples from other manufacturers of the same syrup, namely Leo Pharma and Rajan Ayurvedics, also failed to pass alcohol limit test. Woodland's medicated Gripe Water, manufactured by Tilak Pharmaceuticals Delhi, which claims to have 'soya seed', failed as there were no soya seeds in it.While some like ' Panchskar churna' by Sahay Ayurvedic Pharma, failed as the composition and ingredients were not mentioned on the label, others like 'Doctor's Pudin Hara', manufactured by Bandish Chemicals, and Zinzoxin and Fenu Green by Bajaj Herbocare, failed because of prohibited substances, like Methanol, in them. 'Brahmi Vati' by Universal Medicaments, failed as it contained prohibited concentrations of heavy metals. The popular ayurveda medicine 'Rasayan Vati' was found to have exceeded the limit for Cadmium.  'Metascab' ointment was found exceeding limits of Lead and Arsenic, while Debbix tablets were found exceeding limits of lead and cadmium.Homeopathic medicines Elixir Vita 8 manufactured by Welmans's Homeopathy Delhi and Gastrocin which are used in gastric disturbances, was found to contain alcohol in excess of permissible limits. Alfalfa Q for tiredness and fatigue also failed in alcohol content. Many homeopathic drugs were found in contravention of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act 1954, like Gro-T Tablet by Holistic Remedies, Bio force AG and Heightex.  According to the act, treatment for certain diseases cannot be offered through advertisements. These drugs were found claiming to offer treatment by mere consumption of these drugs.The authorities only appear to be concerned about preventing such medicines from being exported, since overseas health regulations do not permit such formulations. "We have strictly issued a circular that herbal medicines found with heavy metals would not be exported to other countries. There is no regulation to curb the practice in India. Other countries refused to accept the India-made Ayurveda medicines with metals," said a senior official with the department of drug controls for alternative medicine, AYUSH. The government has fixed the permissible limits of heavy metals in ayurveda and Unani medicines with only herbal ingredients, which are in line with World Health Organisation and US Food and Drugs Administration norms. These limits are 10 parts per million (ppm) for lead, 0.030 ppm for cadmium, 3.0 ppm for arsenic and 1 ppm for mercury.  The Centre, vide its order dated October 14, 2005, has made testing for heavy metals, namely arsenic, lead, mercury and cadmium, mandatory for export purposes in respect of every batch of purely herbal ayurveda, Siddha and Unani medicines by every licensee. In view of the regulatory requirements of the importing country, the manufacturer is supposed to submit batch- wise testing reports from approved laboratories certifying that the medicines contains heavy metals within permissible limits. Only after obtaining the certificate can manufacturers export these medicines to other countries. These tests reports were revealed in an RTI reply to Ramesh Verma an RTI activist. "Someone informed me about this rampant practice. I wanted to expose these manufactures so, I filed the RTI," said Verma. "Drugs that attract the magic remedies acts are mostly the drugs that claim to increase masculine power. These are easily available in the market and are fooling people. There should be a proper action against the concerned people," Dr P. N. Varma, former director, Central Council for Research in Homeopathy, said. |
