Central Council for Research in Siddha

Central Council for Research in Siddha (CCRS) under Ministry of Ayush is an apex body for conducting research in Siddha system of medicine and provides health care facilities through its 8 peripheral institutes / units and 5 co-located units of CCRS. The Council is engaged in multifaceted research activities. In the area of clinical research, pre-clinical Pharmacological / Toxicological studies, Open label trials, multi-centric Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) are being conducted for acute and chronic diseases. The main emphasis is on diseases of national health priority with a view to develop safe and effective Siddha treatments.

CCRS with the support of premier medical institutes in the country has carried out several clinical trials including double blind randomized placebo-controlled trials in generating evidence of Siddha formulations in mitigating Covid-19 which has been published in peer reviewed journals. The council has completed clinical studies on Fibroid Uterus, Urolithiasis, Diabetes Mellitus, pre-diabetes, sinusitis, assessment of body constitution, Osteo-arthritis. Ongoing trials through Intra Mural Research (IMR) mode include disease conditions like Fibroid Uterus (multi-centric trial) Urolithiasis, Iron deficiency Anaemia, Psoriasis, Primary Dysmenorrhoea, Insomnia, Diabetic Nephropathy, Breast Cancer, leucorrhoea, Urinary tract infections and Adhesive capsulitis are in progress at the respective Institutes.

The WHO related activities include the inclusion of Siddha Morbidity Codes in ICD-11 ASU TM 2 Chapter. And Siddha Terminology document. Other activities include validation studies of Siddha Pharmacopoeial formulations, new formulations are also being tested for drug development and generation of IPR. SiddharKaayakalpam, SiddharYogam, external therapies like Varmam, Thokkanam are the strength of Siddha system for prevention, management and treatment of various diseases are also being validated. Council is also engaged in National collaboration with reputed scientific organization and medical institutions / Universities on diseases of national priorities.

CCRS has more than 1000 palm leaf manuscripts and involved in decoding the formulations and other contents and publishing as books. CCRS is also publishing rare Siddha literatures, palm leaf manuscripts and till now 50 books have been published. The research outcomes are converted into intellectual property rights through patents and publications in peer reviewed journals.