Kerala govt unveils policy to promote AYUSH systems

Kerala government has unveiled its AYUSH policy with an objective to make the state a global destination of traditional systems of medicine.
Tilted as AYUSH Health Policy 2016, it envisages to tap the potential of the traditional systems of medicines like ayurveda, Yoga-naturopathy, Unani and Siddha and integrate them to improve the primary and preventive health care system of the state.
The policy also aimed at improving the standard of AYUSH systems of health delivery, promoting AYUSH related education and research studies and basic infrastructure in the sector.
State Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala released the policy by handing over a copy to Health Minister V S Sivakumar at a function here last evening.

In his address, Sivakumar said it was necessary to create awareness about Ayush systems of medicines to check increasing lifestyle diseases in the society.
He said the integrated efforts of the government in the last five years had helped Kerala become a 'total Ayurveda state' and efforts are already on to make it a preferred destination of homeopathic treatment also.

Naik said the AYUSH Ministry had formed an expert
committee, under the chairmanship of H R Nagendra, to prepare a Common Yoga Protocol for control of Diabetes mellitus. It was finalised by the committee and the booklet was launched on October 2 last year.

The International Day of Yoga has become a world-wide event and is celebrated with overwhelming enthusiasm by people in different countries. The response "exceeded our expectations", he said.
Naik said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing the second International Day of Yoga celebration at Chandigarh had advised the AYUSH Ministry to focus on mitigating diabetes through yoga and this three-day international conference is one of the several programmes in response.
The ministry said diabetes is spreading at a very fast pace in India, particularly among urban population, and it is no more restricted to older people as the younger generation is also becoming prone to it.

At the conference, Naik released a 2017 calendar themed on 'yoga and diabetes' and also a book on yoga in which selected research papers from 2001 to 2016 have been compiled.