AYUSH ministry operationalises its COVID-19 counselling helpline

PTI, May 21, 2021, 4:43 PM IST

Image source: aiia.gov.in

New Delhi: A dedicated community support helpline has been operationalised by the Ministry of AYUSH to provide AYUSH-based approaches and solutions for the challenges raised by COVID-19. The toll-free helpline number is 14443, the ministry said on Friday.

The helpline is operational pan-India from 6 am till midnight on all days of the week, it said.

Experts from different streams of AYUSH, namely Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani and Siddha will be available to address queries of the general masses, it said.

These experts will not only be providing counselling and feasible remedies to the patients, but also guide them about the availability of nearby AYUSH facilities, the ministry said in a statement.

The experts will also be suggesting post COVID-19 rehabilitation and management approaches to the patients. The helpline is IVR (Interactive Voice Response) equipped and currently available in Hindi and English languages.

Other languages will be added in due course of time.

The helpline will initially take 100 calls simultaneously and the capacity would be increased in future, as per requirements, it said.

Through the helpline, the Ministry of AYUSH aims to contribute to the community-wide effort to limit the spread of COVID-19. The effort is supported by the NGO Project StepOne, the statement said.

Notably, the AYUSH systems are among the oldest living medical systems used for health and wellbeing and are formally recognised in the country. The use of these systems has increased during the current pandemic due to their unique approaches for strengthening host defence, it said.

These are found useful as effective, safer, conveniently accessible, and affordable prophylaxis in the management of COVID-19, the statement said.

In addition, the therapeutic potentials have also been explored. Two potential polyherbal formulations, namely AYUSH-64, an ayurvedic formulation developed by CCRAS, and KabasuraKudineer of Siddha system, have been found effective in the management of mild to moderate COVID-19 conditions.

The Ministry of AYUSH is promoting these medicines extensively for the benefit of common people, it added.