The Ministry of Ayush has categorically disputed all of NICE (Network of Influenza Care Experts) that has made certain statements claiming that the Ministry has approved the development of a COVID-19 therapy programme.
The claimant has falsely imputed the permission of the Ministry of Ayush to it, said the ministry in a statement and said the dissemination of related news will be absolutely false and unjustified. It further said that the NICE has not made any application to the Ministry of Ayush for the so-called protocol.
"If NICE submits a proposal to the Ministry for COVID-19 treatment/management, it will be thoroughly reviewed by the Interdisciplinary Technical Review Committee (ITRC). For such validation, the committee uses a well-established and rigorous scientific screening method," stated the ministry.
"No Ayush streams-related agency can claim to have produced a protocol without the permission of this committee. NICE has claimed to have produced an AyushMinistry approved naturopathy-based programme for COVID-19 treatment, which is unethical, illegal, and without merit. Its act of utilising the Ministry's name without the Ministry's specific approval is equally serious," said the ministry in the statement.
Invoking the the Ministry of Home Affairs' directive no. 40-3/2020-DM-II (A) dated March 24, 2020, and the National Disaster Management Authority's order no. 1-29/2020-pp (Pt II) dated March 24, 2020, the Ayush Ministry said false claims are a penal offence (NDMA). To prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the country, these orders make fraudulent claims a criminal offence. Some news outlets have published NICE's false claim without checking the facts with the Ministry of Ayush, noted the statement.
The National Institute of Naturopathy (NIN) in Pune has earlier said that the Network of Influenza Care Experts (NICE) has made certain exaggerated and false statements. The claim is about COVID-19 care and treatment, and NICE has incorrectly attributed approval of its protocol to the Ministry of Ayush.
NIN, Pune, which works under the Ministry of Ayush, has already stated, in the local media that it not only follows the Ministry of Home Affairs' guidelines for the management, treatment, and prevention of COVID-19 but also promotes these guidelines through IEC material and other activities.
