World Ayurveda Conference to commence on November 6

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Sixth World Ayurveda Conference on November 6, the first of a series of events proposed to celebrate the place of the 'fifth Veda' in the mainstream of the Indian public health system.

"Ayurveda may be ignored today in India, but all Indians will be proud to know that the Museum of Pathology in Chicago Medical School in the US has a portrait of the ancient Indian medical practitioner, Susruta. Under the portrait is a caption which reads 'The man who did the first cataract surgery'," Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan told the media here.

Elaborating on the format of the World Ayurveda Congress, Harsh Vardhan said it will comprise five plenary sessions and 25 technical sessions on 15 research themes. "In all, 750 scientific papers will be presented by scientists from India, Germany, Italy, USA, Argentina, Russia, among other countries," he said.

Harsh Vardhan also announced that the All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) in New Delhi will admit its first batch of post-graduate students during the academic year 2015-16.

"One of my first decisions was to approve the course content. I would like to see this develop into an institution comparable to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for Ayurveda." Harsh Vardhan said.