The credibility of the time-tested Ayurvedic system of disease management is at stake with the unrestricted marketing of nutraceutical products as ayurvedic medicine in Kerala. Most of these products with unproven claims are freely sold in the state, according to Kadavoor Sivadasan, the Kerala State Health Minister.

It is imperative for the ayurvedic industry to bring in state-of-art quality control standards and standardization to cope with the demands of the modern times. Research and clinical trials have to be done to establish the efficacy of Ayurvedic drugs, besides concentrating on extensive research to develop drugs.

For this, the stakeholders in the field should develop various requisite protocols and should strictly follow the parameters. Ayurveda should be rejuvenated to match the advancements made by the allopathic stream of medicine in the field of research and drug development, the minister is learnt to have said while participating in a function as part of the modernization projects at the Government Ayurveda College, Thiruvananthapuram, on Monday.

The Minister inaugurated a modern Panchakarma Centre, a LAN network connecting the various departments of the 100-year-old Ayurveda College and the building of the relocated drug standardization laboratory, which is undergoing renovation with the assistance of the Department of Ayush. The total expenditure for the modernization process is to the tune of Rs 1 crore, said sources.