Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Harsh Vardhan on Sunday said that the AIIMS-styled institutes that the Union government plans to set up in every State will have a department dedicated to Ayurveda and yoga.
The future AIIMS institutes will have “all systems of medicine working in coordination,” he said after inaugurating research laboratories at the Swamy Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Smamsthana (SVYAS).
Promote AyushDr. Vardhan recommended that the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) commit itself “to promoting Ayush” (Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy).
NIMHANS and SVYAS should work in coordination and share scientific expertise, he said.
“The supremacy of Indian fields of medicine has been established... Today, we do not have to convince people about yoga and Ayurveda.” However, the country needs evidence-based medicine, he said, adding that research on practices such as meditation and yoga could help empirically prove the efficacy of these Indian health systems.
Glorious pastInvoking a “glorious past”, Dr. Vardhan, who is a trained ENT specialist, said the world’s first plastic surgeries were conducted in India. Yet, India struggles to ensure healthcare to every citizen. “World-class healthcare is still available to only a handful of people. As many as 1.4 million children die before their fifth birthday and 70 per cent of women and adolescent girls are anaemic,” he said.
The Minister said that he believed in prevention and promotion of positive health over drug administration.
