Govt of India initiative to promote alternative medicine worldwide.

[Guest guest]

As per a PTI (Press Trust of India) report published in "Sambada" a vernacular

daily published from Bhubaneswar in India on Sep 25, Dr Anbumani Ramadoss,

Health Minister, has sought to clear the air on misconceptions about alternate

therapies currently circulating in the world media. He was speaking at the

inaugural ceremony of Arogya-2005 (meaning wellness), an exhibition seeking to

promote alternative methods of healing but also showcasing modern medicine and

medical instruments. He said that the Government of India has been promoting

the cause of ayurveda and homeopathy since many decades and also exporting both

the treatment and the remedies to countries which encouraged the same. The

current spate of events which sought to undermine homeopathy and slander the

safety of ayurvedic products was therefore a matter of great concern to India.

 

He informed the gathering that the Government had undertaken a massive "Golden

Triangle" project to prove the safety and efficacy of homeopathy, ayurveda and

other Indian systems of healing based upon a vast database of successfull cases

that has been acquired over the years. Dr Ramadoss said that it was highly

irresponsible of various scientific journals to ignore clinical evidence and

conspire to tarnish the image of alternative therapies.

 

Three prominent Indian scientific agencies, The Indian Council of Medical

Research, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and the Department of

AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy), under the direct aegis of

the Ministry of Health, have been shortlisted to conduct more research into

alternate therapies. An initial corpus of Rs. 120 crores has been sanctioned

for this research. He was emphatic that the outcome of this effort would

effectively prove to the world that alternative therapies were complete in

themselves. He said that this project would ensure that no scientific journal

would henceforth dare to publish misleading reports on alternative therapies.

 

The Government of India has set in motion the procedure for seeking patents for

Indian systems of medicine and yoga. A digital library is being finalised to

make available information on various systems of traditional healing and

remedies. Both the Central Government and the Ministry of Health are working

jointly in this regard.

--------------------------

 

In a separate development Dr Manmohan Singh, Honourable Prime Minister of India,

has in an unusual move expressed deep anguish over the prevailing medicare

system in India. He has urged the Ministry of Health to improve matters. Dr

Anbumani Ramadoss has asked for more funds and permission to appoint more

doctors and health workers, from all disciplines, so that vacancies could be

immediately filled up. The Central Government has responded by immediately

acceeding to this demand. It may be mentioned here that incidences of cancer,

cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and tuberculosis have reached epidemic

proportions in India.

 

Regards,

Jagannath.

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