Since the beginning of time, Nepal has used a variety of Ayurvedic medications. However, there has not yet been a system for standardization and monitoring that would allow the country to regulate the caliber of these medications. The production, prescribing, and marketing of these medications have a number of difficulties that may affect their quality, safety, and effectiveness. As a result, it’s possible that inferior Ayurvedic medications have been distributed, which not only undermines public trust in Ayurvedic medicines but also puts the reputation of Ayurvedic doctors and the Ayurvedic system at large in jeopardy.
Simple and subjective criteria were used to choose the sample. On the basis of the quantity of Ayu medicine stores and the volume of medicine transactions in those locations, three cities in the Kathmandu valley and six additional densely populated cities were chosen to represent each development region. lists of the most popular 10 Ayu medications were gathered from 87 drug stores, and 26 of those retailers provided a detailed list of information.
Five medications—Avipattikara Churna, Triphala Churna, Chyavanaprasha Avaleha, Ashokarishta, and Yogaraj Guggulu—that were determined to be the top selling five traditional Ayurvedic medications with four different types of preparations/formulations were chosen for the in-depth analysis. One hundred twenty-seven samples of these medications totaling different packing sizes and manufacturers were gathered from merchants in the Kathmandu valley.
In total, there were 6567 names of medications accessible on the Nepalese market, of which 4848 (73.82%) were produced by 43 Indian producers and 1719 (26.18%) by 42 Nepalese manufacturers. The study discovered 1029 different Ayu medicine products, of which 235 (22.84%) were exclusively created in Nepal, 669 (65.01%) in India, and 125 (12.15%) by both Nepali and Indian firms. Comparably, it was discovered that there were 458 (44.51%) and 571 (55.49%) classical and patent drugs, respectively.
201 Ayu medicines were found to be the most popular from 870 names gathered from 87 drug stores, according to the survey. Among the top 870 selling items, the proportion of Nepali and foreign medications was found to be 353 (40.57%) and 517 (59.43%) respectively, while the proportion of traditional and patent medicines was determined to be 601 (69.08%) and 269 (30.92%). Only 106 (52.74%) of the 201 different medications were from India, 67 (33.33%) were from Nepal, and 28 (13.93%) were both from India and Nepal. In contrast, the numbers for classical and patent medications were 118 (58.71%) and 83 (41.29%), respectively. The eleven things listed below were discovered to be the most prevalent among the top-selling items:
1. Avipattikar Churna, 2 .
Ashokarishta,
3. Triphala Churna, 4. Dashamularishta,
5. Chyavanaprash Avaleha, 6. Liv-52,
7. Kasturi Bhushan, 8. Yogaraj Guggulu,
9. Shuddha Shilajit,
10 Hingwashtak Churna, and
11. Sitopaladi Churna.
It was discovered that the main selling factors for ayu medications are demand (50.11%), prescription (31.03%), and advise (18.85%). The study found that whether produced by domestic or international producers, there is no basis or comparable standards used for the packaging and labeling of Ayu medications accessible in the market of Nepal. Within the five classical medicines, the study also discovered clear differences in color, taste, fragrance, fineness, pH, unit dose, etc. There were significant differences in quality between identical drugs produced by various manufacturers, and in some cases, even between different batches of the same manufacturer.
Despite the fact that the study discovered numerous discrepancies in the production, prescribing, and marketing of Ayu medications, they are nevertheless widely used in Nepalese and international markets. If the quality and safety measures are guaranteed by the creation and adoption of standardization and quality control methods, the effectiveness and popularity of these medications can be further boosted.