New Delhi: As part of the Unani Day celebrations, the Union Minister of Ports, Shipping&Waterways and Ayush, Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated an International Conference on ‘Unani Medicine for PublicHealth’ at Vigyan Bhawan on Saturday.
Attending as the Chief Guest at the event, the Union Ayush Minister underlined the government’scommitment to bolster traditional medicinal practices in the country as the Union Budget hikes allocation totheAyushministry by 20 per cent compared to last year.
Speaking on the occasion, Sarbananda Sonowal said, “Ministry of Ayush is promoting Unani Medicine in the national public healthcare system through regulation of research and integration of quality products, practices and practitioners into the health system. We are paying special attention to the development of indigenous systems of medicine in India. Under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji, our focus has been to bolster the rich heritage of our traditional medicinal practices in order to enrich the quality of life and enable a holistic patient care system. The vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji to build a robust health care system for the holistic patient care system remains solid as the Union Budget has considerably hiked the budget for the Ayush system by 20% as well as a 50%hike in the National Health Mission. This is not only going to further the objective of building a strong public healthcare system but also further the traditional medicinal practices as a popular means to enrich one’s quality of life.”
The event was also attended by Union Minister of Law& Justice, Kiren Rijiju as Distinguished Guest of Honour aswell as Union Minister of State for Ayush and Women Child Development, Dr Munjpara Mahendrabhai Kalubhai. Paying tributes to Hakim Ajmal Khan, whose birth anniversary is celebrated as Unani Day on 11 February every year, the AyushMinister remembered him as a humane, versatile genius, intensely committed, articulate and a remarkable combinationofhonesty, high idealism and professional skill.
Sonowal said, “Under the leadershipof Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji, various possibilities of investment and innovation in the field of Ayush have nowbeenproved limitless. The Global Ayush Investment andInnovationSummit held last year at Gandhinagar is a testimony tothat. Thissummit has been instrumental in developing anenablingframework to attract investments and providing strategicsupportto Government policies. Potential investors as well as innovatorshave now realized the comparative advantages that Ayushof ers. The strength of Ayush is its ability to employ youthpower, andskilled labour along with the robustness, and reliability of Ayushinhealthcare & wellness services. In order to bring standards toUnaniMedicine, the WHO in collaboration with Ministry has publishedWHO Benchmarks for the training and practice in Unani Medicine. Recently, the International Standard Terminologies onUnaniMedicine has also been released. The acceptance of our variousIndian systems including Unani Medicine would dependonsoundscientific explanations of the basic theories and specific strengthsofthese systems. I would like to take this opportunity tourgetheresearchers of Unani Medicine and other Indian systems of medicineto devote themselves to strengthening the foundations of theirsystems on scientific lines.”
Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister of Law & Justice, Kiren Rijiju said, “Unani is India’s rich traditional system of medicine. I pay my tributes to the great Unani scholar Hakim Ajmal Khan on his birth anniversary today which is celebrated as Unani Day. I am glad to attend the two-day international conference on Unani Medicine for Public Health. Our rich traditional medicinal practices can of er us sustainable healthcare solutions which will contribute towards the enrichment of human lives in the country.”