With the duration and frequency of cough episodes increasing among Indians since the onset of COVID-19, Kenvue, the world’s largest consumer health company by revenue and makers of Benadryl cough syrup, has announced ‘Cough Clinics’, an industry-first initiative in association with the Association of Physicians of India (API).
As part of this scientific initiative, Kenvue would establish 10 Cough Centres of Excellence across India where over 1,000 doctors would be trained in one year for effective diagnosis of cough and prescribe the right medicine.
The first Cough Centre of Excellence has been launched in Mumbai at BSES Hospital, Andheri.
Prashant Shinde, Business Unit Head, Self-Care, Kenvue India, said, “Benadryl, has been trusted by doctors for over 50 years. We continue working closely with health care professionals to advance the science behind cough and bring the most targeted solutions to deliver superior treatment outcomes.”
“Through our collaboration with API as we will jointly simplify cough management. This initiative will help provide crucial clinical training to healthcare professionals and equip them to follow evidence-based management strategies in cough.”
Dr. Agam Vora, Hon. General Secretary, API, said, “Despite the high burden of cough-related consultations in India, standardized diagnostic tools have largely been missing in primary care, leading to overdependence on empirical treatment and missed opportunities for early intervention.”
“The Cough Clinics will offer physicians in primary care with specialized training and tools to understand different types of coughs and improve patient care,” he said.
The Cough Clinics will comprise of three learning modules. Each module is designed to focus on specific aspects of cough evaluation, sound recognition, treatment decision-making, and rational treatment.
The content has been curated and validated by experts from the Association of Physicians of India (API), and each session will be anchored by leading Pulmonologists.
Every participating physician will undergo a thorough assessment to measure the knowledge shift as well as a Net Promoter Score (NPS) will be collected to evaluate experience and effectiveness.
Following the Mumbai launch, the initiative will roll out in key cities including Lucknow, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata in the coming months.
In India, the average adult experiences about three episodes of cough per year while children may experience 7-10 episodes per year. Cough is one of the most common symptoms treated by primary care physicians.
However, cough syrup formulations have been under the scanner in recent times due to the lack of therapeutic justification behind some of the prevalent formulations in the market.
Despite high occurrence of coughs and respiratory illnesses, 70% individuals receive experience-based therapy without a confirmed diagnosis.
The absence of a systematic approach has often led to the use of multi-ingredient irrational cough formulations, increasing the risk of side effects and escalating treatment costs especially in vulnerable sections of population including elderly and children.
Published – July 17, 2025 10:26 pm IST
