'Neither claimed nor suggested any specific drug': AYUSH ministry clarifies on coronavirus advisory

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The AYUSH ministry, on Monday, issued a clarification over the precautionary advisories it had recently issued following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (2019 nCoV) in China. Coming in the wake of criticism from various quarters, the AYUSH Ministry''s clarification denied that the advisories had neither claimed to cure the nCov nor suggested any specific drug to combat 2019 nCoV.

The ministry clarification said the two advisories issued on 29th January, are only in the nature of general precautionary measures to be followed in the context of such viral diseases. It also said the measures were advised based on the principles of approach in respective medical system to such viral diseases where respiratory involvement is evident.

Those who had come down heavily on the AYUSH ministry included the CPI (M) who had tweeted, "Shocking that the Govt would resort to blatant misinformation in a serious Public Health issue which can affect the lives of people. This is sheer madness!"

Tuesday''s clarification from the AYUSH ministry alleged that there was an attempt to malign its image.

"In this regard, it was learnt that certain news reports from media and medical professional bodies did manipulate and tried to malign the image of AYUSH systems of healthcare and tried to create distrust among the public towards these medical systems. The world is trying to find some help for the pandemic of coronavirus. There is no cure possible as of now. In this situation, any little help from any corner shall be welcomed. The effort of AYUSH Advisory may be seen from this right perspective." the statement said.

The novel coronavirus is a new strain of virus that spread from Wuhan province of China. The government is also on high alert and is taking all preventive measures in order to stop the virus entering the country as many people travel to India from China and visa versa on a daily basis, especially during the Chinese New Year holidays.

India stands at 23rd position amongst the top 30 countries at high risk from the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) researchers have identified. The most ''at risk'' countries or regions worldwide are Thailand (1), Japan (2) and Hong Kong (3). The US is placed 6th on the list, Australia 10th, the UK 17th and India 23rd, the research added.

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