Sarbananda Sonowal spoke about the challenges faced by traditional Indian medicines.
The Ministry of Ayush, together with the Government of Gujarat, will host the Global Ayush Investment and Innovation Summit (GAIIS) from April 20-22. The event will be graced by the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth and the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus.
Ahead of the meetingUnion Minister (Ayush), Sarbananda Sonowal, spoke to NDTV.com where he spoke about the need to organize a global summit, the challenges faced by traditional Indian medicines and the role Ayush played during the COVID-19 crisis. pandemic.
Q: What does it take to host a Global Ayush Summit?
Sarbananda Sonowal: In the wake of the pandemic, collective belief in traditional medicines has increased around the world. Even today, a large part of the population in most countries of the world still relies on traditional medicine as the first point of healing.
Investments are needed to stimulate innovation. The aim of the Global Ayush Summit is to bring together investors, policymakers and both international and national stakeholders to see what progress the sector has made and how to grow the sector with the right impetus and benefit people and the planet . The Ayush sector is recognized worldwide and we believe it is the responsibility of our ministry to ensure that the benefits of our Ayush knowledge, through peaks like this, reach every nook and cranny in the world. In addition, there is also a revival among the youth when it comes to traditional medicine, and we want the summit to generate more interest among young traditional medicine practitioners, health professionals and start-ups to bring traditional medicine into the world.
Q: What are your expectations from the Global Ayush Investment and Innovation Summit?
Sarbananda Sonowal: Our expectation is that we can demonstrate the potential and innovation of traditional medicines. We will do this by showing how the ministry of Ayush creates a conducive environment to stimulate innovation and entrepreneurship by opening new horizons in technology, aggregation and blockchain initiative. This will help to make investments in a sector that has experienced tremendous growth in recent years.
By the end of the summit, we want to prove to people around the world that traditional medicines can provide greater personal autonomy and control over healthcare decisions. The event will also help position India as a global Ayush destination.
Q: Did the Government of India or Ministry give a figure on the amount of investment it expects to collect during the summit?
Sarbananda Sonowal: The Global Ayush Investment and Innovation Summit will host investor meetings and industry dialogues where the allopathy and pharmaceutical sectors are likely to witness the potential of the Ayush sector and also the innovative technologies used in the allopathy sector. It is expected that more investors will be inclined to invest in the Ayush sector. The summit can further help create an ecosystem for investments in Ayush and also help Ayush’s pharmaceutical industry adopt the latest technologies.
Q: The head of the WHO will attend the Ayush summit. Do you think it will help in gaining global recognition for traditional Indian medicine?
Sarbananda Sonowal: Indian traditional medicine is already recognized worldwide. India has been the center for traditional medical systems – Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa-Rigpa and Homeopathy for thousands of years.
The fact that the first Global Center for Traditional Medicine (GCTM) is established in India is an acknowledgment of the same. It is a central melting point for developing and sharing knowledge of affordable and holistic healthcare that will positively impact lives around the world. The presence of Dr. Tedros at Ayush summit is heartwarming to us and will surely support the upliftment of Indian traditional medicine in the eyes of the world.
Q: What do you think are the main challenges Ayush faces in becoming a robust alternative to modern medicine?
Sarbananda Sonowal: The efficacy of traditional medicines versus the rest is always up for debate. It is also because old systems have not been able to achieve the same mileage as the modern ones.
Also, traditional medicine, like everything else, is influenced by “infodemic” on social media. However, with the strong support of the WHO, we hope to get more support and adoption for Ayush in India and around the world.
We truly believe that the GCTM development and the Ayush summit will help to amplify the efficacy and innovation that this drug system is capable of. I trust that our efforts will bring to the fore the medicinal properties and benefits of our traditional medicine.
Q: The growing popularity of Yoga and Ayurveda around the world provides us with a ready market. What has the Indian government done to promote Ayurveda around the world?
Sarbananda Sonowal: Even today, about 80 percent of the world relies on traditional medicine for primary health care.
Our government has always promoted Yoga and Ayurveda in the world. Our continued engagement with stakeholders has led to the creation of the International Yoga Day and we have seen tremendous growth in Ayush sector in recent years. Even during the pandemic, people turned to traditional medicine.
According to the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), Ayush’s market size grew 17 percent between 2014 and 2020 to reach $18.1 billion. Globally, we are also growing at a very fast pace. We have now grown from 0.5 percent of the market share in 2016 to 2.8 percent and we expect to grow even more. We are on track to reach our target of $23.3 billion in market size by 2022. We are deeply committed to the success of the industry and promoting our traditional medicine systems in the world and hope that through the investment summit we will be successful in getting investment to further it and grow it further.
Q: What are the government initiatives to promote Ayush and create synergies between traditional and modern medicine?
Sarbananda Sonowal: The ministry has recently implemented a lot of reforms. To name a few, the ministry introduced an online application system in 2021 to make the licensing procedures for the manufacture of traditional medicines easier and more transparent. An MoU was also signed between the Pharmacopoeia Commission for Indian Medicine & Homeopathy (PCIM&H) and American Herbal Pharmacopoeia, USA to help strengthen, promote and develop standards in Ayurveda and other Indian traditional medicines.
In addition, Ayurveda departments will be opened at 19 AIIMS institutes as a step in integrative health services. The Ministry of Ayush is working with the Bureau of Indian Standards to formulate standards for Ayush systems. This endeavor will help increase international trade related to Ayush products, services and equipment in ISO’s 165 member countries.
The Ministry of Ayush is working closely with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to cooperate in mainstreaming the use of traditional medicines. Interdepartmental meetings are underway and action plans, implementation strategies, etc. are being finalized.
Our constant pursuit is to strengthen, develop and promote standards within the Ayush sector so that more people can experience and believe the benefits behind Ayurveda and other traditional healing practices that are deeply rooted in modern science.
Q: What role did the Ministry of Ayush play during the COVID-19 pandemic and are there plans to integrate learning into the curriculum of Ayurvedic doctors?
Sarbananda Sonowal: To combat the pandemic, Ayush Ministry has taken several initiatives since the pandemic hit India. For example, the Ministry has from time to time issued various guidelines and advice for self-care/home care, preventive, therapeutic and practitioners related to COVID, long-term COVID and post-COVID management. The Ministry of Ayush worked with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and with the governments of the State/UT to train and deploy Ayush’s human resources for COVID management activities. The states/UTs were advised to utilize the Ayush infrastructure, including more than 50,000 beds, hospitals of more than 750 Ayush colleges, and 86 clinical facilities of national institutes and research councils under the ministry by appropriately converting them. put in COVID-related facilities.
The Ministry of Ayush has undertaken several R&D initiatives to exploit the potential of Ayush systems to contain the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic through research councils and national institutes under the Ministry and by collaborating with various research organizations to provide evidence to encourage, promote and promote-based research on Ayush systems. These efforts have led to the initiation of 142 investigations into the Ayush systems related to Covid-19.
The ministry has also operationalized a dedicated community support helpline through the toll-free number 14443 to provide Ayush-based solutions and support for the challenges posed by COVID -19.
The Ministry of Ayush launched a nationwide distribution campaign of Ayush 64, through 86 clinical units of research councils and national institutes across the country.
A national repository has been developed to disseminate information about COVID-19 related Ayush R&D initiatives and scientific publications. It is available on the Ayush Research Portal of the Ministry of Ayush.