NITI Aayog hails Andhra Pradesh, Telangana for combating COVID-19 through AYUSH

Vijayawada: The Central government's policy think tank NITI Aayog has lauded the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for actively organizing programs to combat Covid-19 through AYUSH medical services.  

The NITI Aayog released a compiled list which contained information on various AYUSH-based programs and methods adopted by the states and Union Territories of the country, reports Hans India.

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The compilation was released on Saturday by NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Suman Beri and Minister of State for AYUSH Dr Munjpara Mahendrabhai Kalubhai. It said that the state of Andhra Pradesh implemented the guidelines issued by the Ministry of AYUSH regarding the Covid-19 response to the maximum extent of the available resources. NITI Aayog said, "The state government has undertaken several programs mainly with the objectives of prevention of Covid-19 and post-Covid revival; About 339 AYUSH officers working in government AYUSH dispensaries have been assigned duties for contact tracing, drug distribution, control, counselling and clinical management."

The vice chairman Beri stated that it is important to communicate the learnings from the testing times during the Covid-19 pandemic about how Ayush practices implemented at the national and State level benefited the people. 

NITI Aayog member VK Paul said that the practices documented in the compendium would become useful while addressing any future surge in the pandemic, reports The New Indian Express. 

Over 339 Ayush officers working in the government Ayush dispensaries were assigned duties for contact tracing, distribution of medicines, containment, counselling and clinical management and 400 PG scholars and interns supervised and provided prophylactic medicines related to Ayurveda and Homeopathy, stated the compendium. Further, the college faculty were reported to have conducted free medical camps and awareness programs for combating the pandemic. Further, it was reported that the Andhra Pradesh government took various preventive measures and AYUSH College faculty organized awareness camps in collaboration with PG scholars and interns.

All these activities were reported to have been extended in 13 districts "to staff and family members of the Andhra Pradesh Secretariat, office of the Director General of Police, District Collectorates, Magistrate Courts, Andhra Pradesh Medical Services and Infrastructure Development Corporation (APMSIDC) officers and staff of the Police Commissionerate, Vijayawada, Director of Public Health, Endowments Department, and sanitation workers in containment zones, as well as in quarantine and isolation wards", quotes the compendium. 

The Telangana Department of Ayush was also lauded for its quick and effective method of handling the pandemic. NITI Aayog said the Department of Ayush had acted quickly and participated in surveillance, tracing, strategizing for minimizing spread and developed State-specific Ayush preventive and management protocols, reports the Telangana Today. 

Further, the report stated that the state quickly prepared and distributed preventive medicines and converted Ayush teaching hospitals to quarantine centres and level-1 isolation centres, adding that the Department of Ayush took an active part in implementing Ayush protocols of prevention and treatment for Mucormycosis infection too. 

Meanwhile, the NITI Aayog was tweeted by Health Minister T Harish Rao on Saturday who pointed out the NITI Aayog's appreciation of the state's Ayush Department in handling the pandemic. As per the report, in Telangana, 80 Ayush doctors and 50 Pharmacists participated in telemedicine services for day-to-day health status monitoring of home isolated COVID-19 cases. Other measures taken up by the Telangana government which are mentioned in the Compendium consist of an integrated clinical study for the treatment of black fungus through Ayurveda and allopathy at two facilities on 137 patients apart from advising Unani medicines for the management of COVID-19 and Mucormycosis. 

The report added that many awareness programmes based on Ayush guidelines for prevention, mitigation and management of COVID-19 were largely propagated on mass media and social media. 

The compendium, prepared by the NITI Aayog comprised the Ayush practices undertaken by all state governments for Covid-19 mitigation and management.