India coronavirus dispatch: AYUSH recommendations add to confusion on norms

AYUSH recommendations muddy the discourse on Covid-19 treatments: In October, the AYUSH ministry—which oversees the propagation of alternative medicine in India—had provided guidelines to incorporate “Ayurveda and Yoga therapies” into the country’s Covid-19 national clinical management protocol. The ministry advises tackling coronavirus with gargles of hot water, applying medicated ghee in the nostrils, inhaling steam, drinking hot turmeric milk, and herbal teas, among other things. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare—which is charged with overseeing health policy in India—already has a modern medicine-based clinical protocol for Covid-19. The manual has been revised several times to introduce or remove medicines and therapies as new information emerges. Based on little scientific evidence and in contradiction with the existing clinical protocol, the latest AYUSH ministry…