Ayurveda can acquire global recognition like yoga: Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday said that ayurveda can acquire global recognition, like yoga, if it is presented in the right spirit and as a way of life.

"Yoga had acquired global recognition for people who wanted a stress-free life and are moving towards holistic healthcare. Similarly, if ayurveda is presented in the right spirit as a way of life, it too can acquire acceptance," he said in his address at the valedictory session of the 6th World Ayurveda Congress here.

Modi said the biggest challenge to ayurveda comes from people who have dedicated their life to it as "they too do not trust it fully".

"The biggest challenge for ayurveda is posed by the people associated with it. It is hard to find physicians who are 100 percent committed to ayurveda. Unless the practitioners believe in it fully they cannot convince patients," he said.

The prime minister said instead of projecting ayurveda and allopathy as competing streams of medical science, ayurveda should be described as a way of life.

A disease can be cured by allopathy, but if a person adopts ayurveda, he can ensure that he remains healthy and free of disease, he said, and called on ayurveda practitioners to be dedicated to the stream not just as a profession, but as a service to mankind.

The prime minister said it is essential for ayurveda to reach people in a simple, effective way and for this, the modes of treatment should also be better packaged.

"Space has to be created in international medical and science publications, for articles on ayurveda. But the effort for this has to come from the practitioners and researchers of ayurveda," he added.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said despite having a rich heritage in alternate systems of medicine, India is behind China in this field.

"China has used its potential and created a lot of potential for employment," he said adding that the government has now decided to pump in around Rs. 5,000 crore in the Ayush mission.

The 6th World Ayurveda Congress (WAC) and Arogya Expo is being held to integrate ayurveda with the mainstream public health system and propagate it globally as a safe and cost-efficient health care alternative.

The event was is being organised by the AYUSH (ayurveda, yoga and naturopathy, unani, siddha and homoeopathy) department under the union health and family welfare ministry, in collaboration with the World Ayurveda Foundation (WAF) and the Delhi government.