The center also announced the launch of an independent National AYUSH Mission aimed at capacity building for the sector
Singapore: In a bid to foster the traditional medicines sector, the Indian government recently announced the allocation of Rs 5,000 crores for the growth of Department of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy). The center also announced the launch of an independent National AYUSH Mission aimed at capacity building for the sector.
Speaking at a function organized by Sandu Pharmaceuticals, Union Minister of State for AYUSH, Mr Sripad Naik, said, "The independent mission will ensure creation of a center of excellence for Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy independently. For creating awareness about Ayurveda, the Ministry is also considering to observe Ayurveda Day."
He added that India and China use largest number of medicinal plants in the world. "Traditional Chinese medicines have seen easy acceptance across the globe, but the Indian Ayurvedic medicines, which has seen a 25 per cent rise in its sales in the last ten years, the highest such increase in the world, are yet to gain global acceptance," he observed.
Sandu Pharmaceuticals, MD, Mr Shashank Sandu said, "Ayurveda is a great heritage of the Indian science. During the British era, the ancient medical science was ridiculed. Despite the ill-treatment, a few practitioners and believers of the Ayurveda continued advocating it and its usefulness."
Unlike other medicinal systems, in India Ayurveda is popular and is being practiced throughout the country, including tribal and remote areas where other modes of therapies are not readily available. Though it does not have an elaborate organized structure, it plays a major role in meeting the healthcare needs of a large section of Indians.
