JK-Kerala joint venture in promoting AYUSH proposed

"Both the states can explore possibilities to promote AYUSH system, which is becoming popular day by day," the four- member committee headed by T N Prathapan told JK Health Minister Sham Lal Sharma during an interaction here yesterday.

The committee on Private Members Bills and Resolutions (PMBR) is on a three-day visit to JK to study the health scenario and steps taken by the state government to provide healthcare to people and implementation of various flagship programmes of Central government.

The members shared the working of health system in Kerala with the minister and opined that both the states are having lot of potential of health tourism and people can avail benefits if efforts are made jointly, an official spokesman said today.

Welcoming the suggestion for exploring possibilities for joint venture to promote AYUSH system, the minister said, "JK has already taken several steps to promote this sector and has created a full-fledged medicinal board."

He said keeping in view the popularity of the traditional health care system and increasing number of patients in the AYUSH sector, the government has sanctioned one unani college and one ayurvedic college in the state.

The committee said Kerala Legislative Assembly has passed an unanimous resolution on unprecedented price rise of medicine and steps for their control.

It said Kerala wants that similar resolutions are passed in other states so that prices of medicines were maintained at uniform rate and requested Sharma to use his influence for passing a resolution in JK on the same lines to pave way for keeping a check on price rise of medicines.