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 With Ayurveda gaining mass popularity in many countries, international delegates came together at the 10th World Ayurveda Congress (WAC) in Dehradun to discuss strategies to mainstream the ancient Indian medicine system in their respective countries.
In presentations at the WAC International Delegates Assembly (IDA), participants hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his global advocacy of Ayurveda and called for more government-to-government efforts to secure for it wider recognition as a complementary or alternative system of medicine. Around 300 delegates from different countries participated in the IDA.
Delegates from Australia, South Korea, Singapore, Portugal, Poland, Argentina and Brazil highlighted the growing demand for Ayurveda in their countries where it can only be offered as a lifestyle or wellness system currently. They elaborated on the regulatory and other hurdles in the development of Ayurveda and suggested ways the government and the World Ayurveda Foundation organisers of the WAC could help overcome them.
Inaugurating the IDA, Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, secretary of Ayush, said his ministry’s support for all efforts to promote Ayurveda around the globe. The WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre (GTMC) was set up at Jamnagar in Gujarat in 2022 with a 250-million dollar investment to raise the global profile of traditional medicine systems, he said.
He urged Ayurveda stakeholders worldwide to work with GTMC and the Ayush Ministry to address issues and concerns.
Ayurveda represents a 6.2 billion dollar business in Australia, a country with a population of just 19 million, said Dr Dileep Ghosh from NICM Health Research Institute at Western Sydney University. This growth continues to attract intense lobbying against Ayurveda by sections of the media, especially when there are negative reports such as the recent ban on certain ayurvedic herbs in Europe.
In Brazil, there are 4,000 practitioners of Ayurveda with the law treating them as “therapists”, said Dr Jose Rugue, president of the World Movement for Yoga and Ayurveda who is associated with the Suddha Saba Yoga and Ayurveda Ashram in the South American country. There are three ayurvedic centres in Rio de Janeiro, conducting limited research, and there is potential for more such centres, going by the demand.
However, the Ayurveda scene in Germany was starkly different, said Dr Harsha Gramminger, a pioneer in bringing Ayurveda treatments and products to the EU country. She works at a hospital that offers integrated treatment with both Ayurveda and allopathy. “We have very good educational institutions and made great achievements (in Ayurveda). … “I would like to see Ayurveda in every hospital, offering medicines and not just food products," she said.”
Delegates from Nepal and Sri Lanka were happy with the growth of Ayurveda in their countries. Dr MG Sajeewani, consultant at Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Health, noted that there were six university affiliated institutes offering Ayurveda degree courses.
Dr Pushpa Raj Poudel, head of Ayurveda and Alternative Medicine at Nepal’s Ministry of Health and Population, pointed out that the Himalayan nation was home to South Asia’s oldest pharmacy dating back three centuries. The Ayurveda healthcare system was well developed and widely accepted by society, he said.
The session also featured Dr Vidhu Sharma and Ann Vlass (Australia), Dr Shilpa Swar (Singapore), Dr Kim Seok Jeong (South Korea), Dr Shivani Sood (Poland), Dr Gabriela Paleta (Portugal) and De Jorge Berra (Argentina).
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