The State government was committed to promoting the Indian systems of medicine, not only as a standalone system but also as a complementary system, Health Minister C. Vijaya Baskar said here on Friday.
Addressing mediapersons after inaugurating ‘Arogya’, a four-day exhibition of Indian systems of medicine, he said that Tamil Nadu was a trend-setter in public health as it has incorporated Indian systems of medicine with allopathic medicine in its government hospitals.
The State is home to six government colleges and 20 self-financing colleges for Indian systems of medicine, and has a dedicated department for Indian medicine and homoeopathy.
Mohan Pyare, commissioner, Directorate of Indian Medicine and Homoeopathy, said the State had 1,456 centres for treatment under AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy), where more than three crore people were receiving treatment.
The Confederation of Indian Industry’s Tamil Nadu State Council chairman P. Ravichandran said the Indian medicine industry was worth ₹30 crore, with a huge potential for development. As many as 30,000 visitors are expected at the exhibition, said R.S. Ramaswamy, director general of the Central Council for Research in Siddha.
