Billed as the biggest event in the field of traditional medicine to be held in the city, the 6th World Ayurveda Congress (WAC) and Arogya Expo kicks off this week.
The event aims to integrate ayurveda with mainstream public health system and provide stimulus to its global propagation as a safe, cost-efficient and holistic healthcare for all.
‘Ayurveda and Health Challenges’ is the focal theme of the WAC, being organised from November 7 to 9, by the Department of AYUSH, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in collaboration with the World Ayurveda Foundation (WAF) and the Delhi Government.
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan will inaugurate the event at the Pragati Maidan exhibition centre on November 7. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address the valedictory session on the concluding day.
Arogya Expo, a popular component of the WAC, will begin on November 6. Envisaged as a “health mela” on ayurveda, yoga, naturopathy, unani, siddha and homoeopathy (AYUSH) systems of medicine, it will be a public event.
“We will open free consultation facilities at the expo, where AYUSH doctors will examine visitors and distribute free medicines. Live yoga sessions are also planned,” said Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Harsh Vardhan, who is scheduled to inaugurate the expo.
The Minister, who is also the chief patron of the WAC organising committee, said this will be the largest Ayurveda Congress with nearly 4,000 participants. Around 200 international delegates from 24 countries, including Sri Lanka, Germany, the United States, Italy, Singapore, Australia, Russia and Argentina, are expected to attend.
The four-day event will witness an assemblage of various Ayurveda stakeholders — industry leaders, Health Ministers, practitioners, traditional healers, educationists, students, drug manufacturers, growers of medicinal plants and marketing strategists — from across the world.
Seven ayurveda universities and 270 ayurveda colleges in India, and their Vice-Chancellors and principals will also participate in the brainstorming meet.
AYUSH Department Secretary Nilanjan Sanyal, who is also the chairman of the organising committee, said the objective of the event was to bring ayurveda into global focus and create an accessible and affordable healthcare system that can be seamlessly integrated with modern medicine practices.
“The WAC provides an excellent platform to showcase ayurveda as a holistic system of medicine with its preventive, rehabilitative and rejuvenating roles. In a country like India, where even allopathy has failed to penetrate large swathes of rural areas, ayurveda can intervene as an effective healing system, especially for non-communicable diseases,” he noted.
“Problems triggered by urbanisation [pollution], income growth [tendency to luxury], job stress, advent of 24/7 TV, consumerism and sedentary lifestyle call for prevention of diseases rather than cure,” he said.
“AYUSH systems of medicine can be very effective in his regard,” he added.
Unlike the previous editions, the sixth edition of the WAC is a government-sponsored event, with the Department of AYUSH stepping in this time, Mr. Sanyal noted.
Five plenary sessions, 25 technical sessions on 15 research themes and country presentations by Health Ministers of foreign countries will dominate the proceedings of the event, which will strive to give a transformational push to ayurveda and position it as a model for public health globally. In all, 750 scientific papers will be presented by scientists from India, Germany, Italy, the U.S., Argentina and Russia.
Besides AYUSH, around 500 leading Ayurveda companies including Dabur, Arya Vaidyasala, Kottakal; Shree Dhootapapeshwar, Baidyanath; Emami, Himalaya, Pharmexcil and Dhathri will set up stalls to showcase their products.
Some associate events include a workshop on panchakarma ; traditional healers’ meet; workshop on mriga (veterinary) ayurveda; quality assurance, a roundtable on integrative medicine; poster presentations and the finals of the Shree Dhootapapeshwar Jyotishmati All-India Intercollegiate Ayurveda Quiz. Cultural events will also be organised on all four evenings.
