UP govt moots use of cow urine to make medicines

Lucknow: After its proposal to make floor cleaners using cow urine, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to give a push to the use of cow urine in preparing medicines.

“The Ayurveda department has prepared eight medicines using ‘gau mutra’ which can prove to be useful in the case of liver ailments, joint pain and immunity deficiency,” the departments director Dr RR Chaudhary said here on Sunday.

“The department, which has two pharmacies (in Lucknow and Pilibhit) along with other private units, is preparing Ayurvedic medicines using cow urine, cow milk and ghee,” he said. There are eight Ayurvedic medical colleges in the state – in Banda, Jhansi, Muzaffarnagar, Allahabad, Varanasi, Bareilly, Lucknow and Pilibhit.

“In these medical colleges, a degree course in ayurvedic medicine is imparted. Thousands of patients come for treatment in these medical colleges everyday,” he said. “In Lucknow alone, the daily footfall in the out-patient department of the Ayurveda Hospital is around 700 to 800. If the all patients arriving in eight medical colleges are combined together, then the figure reaches thousands,” Chaudhary said.

Elaborating on the benefits of Ayurveda, the director said, “New research shows that cow urine and other cow derivatives can prove to be highly useful. Till now, we have been giving medicines made using cow urine in cases pertaining to liver ailments, joint pain and for boosting immunity. Our endeavour is to expand the ambit of these medicines and use it for curing other ailments and diseases as well,” he said.

He said since there are only two government pharmacies in UP, there is comparatively less production at the government level. “However, in the private sector, there are many companies engaged in manufacturing medicines using cow urine, which are supplied to Ayurvedic medical colleges of the state,” Chaudhary said.

The director said the department is working to open new pharmacies and start post-graduate and MD courses in Ayurvedic medical colleges.