More than half of Kerala's population use AYUSH medicines, says survey

MORE than half of Kerala's population avails treatment under the Ayush systems of medicine in a year, with women outnumbering men, the first-ever "Survey on Ayush 2022-23" by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) has revealed.

- MS VIDYANANDAN

The NSSO, under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, also says Ayush usage is slightly higher in urban Kerala than rural areas.

In rural areas, 567 per 1,000 people used Ayush in one year, while in urban areas, the number was 587 per 1,000 people. This was higher than the national average of 463 (rural) and 529 (urban). Ayush had more female takers than male in both rural and urban areas, 615 females and 514 males (rural) and 648 females and 520 males (urban) per 1,000 people.