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Industry sees shift towards traditional medicine to accelerate pace of preventive care
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Nandita Vijay, Bengaluru
May 13 , 2022
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Pharma industry is increasingly looking at the shift towards traditional medicine approaches and the focus on Ayurveda Aahara will only propel the pace of preventive care. This according to the sector is the future of India strengthening its stand for the global leadership in life-sciences.
According to Dr DBA Narayana, CSO, Aurvidye Trust, and chairman of plant medicine committee, Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission, the recent guidance by the Union government on supplements and nutraceuticals is a step in the right direction for India to inch closer to global leadership in this space.
Ayurveda Aahara means a food prepared in accordance with the recipes or ingredients or processes as per method described in the authoritative books of Ayurveda listed under ‘Schedule A’ of these Supplements and nutraceuticals regulations including products which have other botanical ingredients . This is in accordance with the concept of Ayurveda but does not include ayurvedic drugs or proprietary ayurvedic medicines and medicinal products, cosmetics, narcotic or psychotropic substances, herbs listed under Schedule E-1 of Drug and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and the Drug and Cosmetics Rules, 1945, metals based ayurvedic drugs or medicines, bhasma or pishti and any other ingredients notified by the Authority from time to time, Dr Narayana who also chaired the supplements and nutraceuticals committee told Pharmabiz.
The regulation is a big welcome step especially post the severe pandemic phase when global companies are looking up to use traditional knowledge based natural ingredients to protect the people and take care of their health. There is a movement that is imminent going by the increasing interest to make a drastic move from treatment of illness to wellness. The responsibility to take care of one’s health and live better with right diet and food is becoming evident. Here India’s expertise in pharma and the science of traditional medicine will stand to gain, he pointed out.
There is a restriction on the sale and manufacture of Ayurveda Ahara as the labelling cannot claim that it has the property of preventing, treating or curing a human disease or refer to such properties, he noted adding that pharma companies in the country would know how to make a strategic shift towards this.
Moreover, Ayurveda Aahara is intended to provide a health benefit, or as an adjuvant, to support a specific disease condition, or disorder specified. The rationale and efficacy data for the specific medical purpose including the target population, required for prior approval are needed to be presented to the regulatory authority where evidence based approval is also mandated.
The microbiological standards with respect to the products categories specified as Process Hygiene Criteria indicate the acceptable functioning of the production process. These are not to be used as requirements for releasing the products in the market. These are indicative values above which corrective actions are required in order to maintain the hygiene of the process in compliance with regulations and would be applicable at the end of the manufacturing process and the products in the market during their shelf- life, he noted.
We do expected considerable interest not just from pharma companies to look into this space but with the consumers of all age-groups to demand traditional medicine and Ayurveda Aahara to accelerate pace of preventive care, said Dr Narayana.
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TOPICS
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That foods might provide therapeutic benefits is clearly not a new concept. ...
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