Ayush facilities: Gujarat govt eyes Kerala model

Gandhinagar: The Gujarat government is planning to introduce a new policy to promote Ayush-based medical treatment facilities in the state. The state government is mulling adopting the Kerala model which has developed a massive market for Ayush treatment-linked tourism.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus inaugurated the Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in Jamnagar and also attended the international Ayush (ayurveda, yoga and naturopathy, unani, siddha and homeopathy) conference held in Gandhinagar last week.

A key source said, “In order to implement the vision expressed by the PM at the conference, we are preparing a draft policy and action plan to promote Ayush facilities on a large scale in the state. This will be on the lines of how Gujarat has been promoting medical tourism through our hospital network.”

Health department sources said, “We are studying various models adopted by different states to promote Ayush. Kerala has done significant work in promoting Ayush-based services and tourism. So we are also studying the Kerala model. We may adopt many relevant methods from them. Shortly, we will prepare a draft policy and start stakeholder consultations.”

Describing the strides made by the Ayush sector, the PM had earlier said, “We are already witnessing unprecedented growth in the production of Ayush medicines, supplements and cosmetics. In 2014, the Ayush sector was less than $3 billion ( Rs 22,946 crore approx). It has increased to more than $8 billion (Rs 1,37,681 crore approx) today.” The PM also announced plans to give Ayush-based visas, promoting Ayush mark and the likes.

He said that the Ayush ministry has taken several major steps to encourage startup culture in the field of traditional medicine. A few days ago, an incubation centre developed by the All India Institute of Ayurveda was also inaugurated.

The PM highlighted how the facility was important to easily connect with the market for farmers involved in the production of medicinal plants.