Ministry received 358 cases of misleading ads of AYUSH products, Lok Sabha told

The Ministry of AYUSH has so far come across 358 cases of 'misleading' advertisements allegedly of herbal, ayurvedic and other such products this year, the Lok Sabha was informed Friday.

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has reported to have dealt with 732 complaints pertaining to such advertisements of AYUSH from January 20 last year to January 19 this year.

"A total 66 cases of improper advertising of AYUSH and allied products in 2015, 204 cases in 2016, 547 cases in 2017 and 358 in the current year 2018 have been reported from the Grievances Against Misleading Advertisements (GAMA) portal maintained by the Department of Consumer Affairs and complaints also received in this regard from different sources," Union Minister of State (independent charge) for AYUSH Shripad Yesso Naik said.

The AYUSH Ministry issued an advisory on August 31 to drug manufacturers and advertising agencies to refrain from using the name of government departments or institutions in the advertisements of Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathy (ASU&H) drugs, he said.

Also, caution for general public has been issued in leading newspapers not to fall prey to fake calls and advertisements of such drugs.

For checking the veracity of misleading advertisements of AYUSH products in the print and the television media and to undertake monitoring of such advertisements, powers are vested with the state governments to authorise gazetted officers to search, seize, examine any record, register, document or any other material related to any objectionable advertisement under the provisions of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954.

"The Ministry of AYUSH has repeatedly taken up the matter with the state governments to appoint gazetted officers for monitoring of advertisements of ASU&H drugs," he said.

The ministry also signed a memorandum of understanding with the ASCI in January last year for suo moto monitoring of misleading advertisements appearing in the print media and TV channels and bring the defaulters to the notice of respective state regulators.

Media regulators have also been approached to prevent the publication of inappropriate advertisements promoting sale of ayurvedic and other such AYUSH medicines in public interest.

On this account, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting issued guidelines to all the media channels and to abstain from publishing and telecasting such misleading advertisements, which are in contravention of the provisions of Drugs and Magic remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 and Rules thereunder, the minister informed.

Consumers' complaints about misleading claims or advertisements of AYUSH and herbal medicines registered in the GAMA portal of the Department of Consumer Affairs are examined by a nodal officer appointed in the ministry and are forwarded to the concerned state regulatory authorities for necessary action in accordance with the legal provisions.

Manufacturing for sale and quality control of Ayurvedic, Siddha and Unani medicines made from herbs and other ingredients is regulated in the country in accordance with the provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945 including requirement of proof of safety and effectiveness for grant of license.