NEW DELHI: World Health Organization announced on Friday that it will establish a Global Center for Traditional Medicine in India, prompting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to say that just as India has emerged as the ‘pharmacy of the world’, the WHO institution will become a center for the “global welfare”.
WHO Director General Tedros adhanom Ghebreyesus praised Prime Minister Modi for his commitment to universal health insurance coverage under Ayushman Bharat and evidence-based promotion of traditional medicines to achieve health-related goals.
Ghebreyesus made the announcement in a video message at an event where the prime minister inaugurated two future-ready Ayurveda institutions in Jaipur and Jamnagar via video conferencing on the occasion of the fifth day of Ayurveda.
The Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda (Itra), Jamnagar, and the National Institute of Ayurveda (NIA), Jaipur, are the two main Ayurveda institutions in India. The former has been conferred the status of an institution of national importance (INI) by an act of Parliament, and the latter is an institution considered a university.
On the occasion, the Director General of the WHO said that this new center will support the efforts of the WHO to implement its traditional medicine strategy 2014-2023 ”.
Calling it pride, Modi said: “Ayurveda is not only an alternative today, it is one of the key foundations of the country’s health policy.” He noted that during the pandemic, demand for Ayurvedic products had increased rapidly around the world and exports increased by around 45% in September from last year. The prime minister said that while India is testing vaccines, it is also increasing international cooperation in Ayurvedic research to combat Covid-19.
Modi said that Ayurveda is the heritage of India whose expansion involves the well-being of humanity and that all Indians will be happy to see that the traditional knowledge of the country is making other countries prosperous.
I am confident that just as India has become the world’s pharmacy, so this traditional medicine center will become the global wellness center.
.
