New Delhi: The Union Minister of State (In Charge) of the Ministry of AYUSH Pratap Rao Jadhav informed the Rajya Sabha that under the pharma co-vigilance programme, a total of 38,539 misleading advertisements till date related to AYUSH drugs has been noticed and reported to the State Licensing Authorities (SLAs) for possibility of action against the defaulter’s. The AYUSH Minister was replying to a question related to the action taken by the ministry against misleading advertisements for treatment and drugs in the last five years. The AYUSH minister said “None of them were found to be serious and none required hospitalization. No fatality was noticed, and all the reports were self-limiting and non-serious in nature”.
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The minister said that the total number of misleading advertisements related to Ayush drugs noticed by the pharma co-vigilance is across almost six and a half years, from 2018 to till date in 2024. The number of misleading advertisements reported in 2024 so far, is 4,372, while it was 7,771 in 2023. The ministry has set up pharma co-vigilance centres for Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathy (ASU&H) Drugs in different parts of the country under the Central Scheme of the Ministry of Ayush. The programme focuses upon generating awareness among various stakeholders, inculcating a reporting culture of suspected adverse effects and surveillance of misleading advertisements appearing in the print and electronic media