Ayurvedic drug in 'top 20'

The government's move to revive traditional medicines has started yielding results. In a major shot in the arms of Ayush Ministry, an ayurvedic drug developed by the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) has been adjudged as top 20 best medicines in the country. Notably, the Ayush Ministry was carved out from Health Ministry as a separate ministry to promote traditional medicines by PM Narendra Modi.

"It's for the time that an ayurvedic drug formulation has been included in the list of top 20 medicines which is mainly dominated by modern medicines. The development establishes that patients are switching towards traditional healthcare system when it comes to treating diabetes," an Ayush Ministry official said, adding that the BGR-34 medicine, which was developed by the CSIR, has been proving a better alternative to cure the non-communicable disease.

The ayurvedic drug BGR-34 is at 14th position in the list which is dominated by the allopathic medicine of multinational companies such as Sanofi, Zydus, Lupin, etc. The ayurvedic formulation, which has been developed by CSIR –National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) Lucknow is ranked at 33rd position in terms of MAT (moving annual total) value of the drug. The MAT value of a drug is declared after study its efficacy.