The Central Research Institute of Unani Medicine (CRIUM) on Saturday observed the first National Unani Day to mark the birth anniversary of Hakim Ajmal Khan, who was credited with reviving unani in the country. Union Minister Shripad Yesso Naik said plans were afoot to develop a national unani treatment facility on the lines of the All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences.
Mr. Naik reminded the audience that the Modi-led NDA government had introduced a ministry for AYUSH and was keen on promoting research.“Though it originated elsewhere, unani has grown in India. Drugs are developed here and they are exported across the world,” he said.
Deputy Chief Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali said the State government would support unani research. “We will provide all the land that researchers need to grow herbs for research. We hope that through research, it would be possible to provide cost-effective treatment for most illnesses.”
Health Minister C. Laxma Reddy said Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao was keen on promoting unani in the state.
At the programme, the institute presented unani researchers and doctors with achievement awards, including honouring posthumously the institutes’ founder Hakim Abdurrazaq Khan with a lifetime achievement award. Mohammed Waheed, the unani practitioner and researcher who was recently awarded the “Padma Shri”, urged researchers to persist with research using modern investigation techniques.
Meanwhile, irony was writ large on outpatient waiting halls where several patients waited for treatment. On the first national unani day, patients were promised treatment but doctors, busy hearing to the Ministers, left them unattended.
