Pharmacovigilance initiative for Ayush drugs in India

Abstract

Since ancient times medicinal plants are regarded as rich sources of therapeutic agents for the prevention of various diseases. Synthetic pharmaceuticals dominated the market for centuries, but in recent years, the use of traditional medical systems such as Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, Sowa-Rigpa, and Homoeopathy have grown significantly and their demand has increased to many folds. Particularly ever since the pandemic spread across the country, this demand is witnessed more. Most of the drugs in these systems come from nature, so they are considered safe. However, this is always not true. In such a scenario, it becomes essential to continuously monitor these medications to dispel notions about them and to build public trust on scientific lines. Pharmacovigilance is such a system, which covers activities relating to the detection, assessment, understanding, and prevention of adverse effects of drugs. The pharmacovigilance system for Ayush drugs was established in 2007 in the Indian context. To ensure effective implementation; the same program has been restructured by the Ministry of Ayush, under the Central Sector Scheme in 2017. The current program is making efforts to promote understanding, education, and inculcating reporting culture among Ayush stakeholders including health professionals and the public as well. Besides this, the program is also involved in the surveillance of misleading advertisements appearing in print and electronic media.