The Union Ministry of Ayush in collaboration with the Department of Health Research (DHR) has established a Centre of Integrative Oncology (CIO) at the National Institute of Cancer Prevention and Research (NICPR), Noida, for collaboration in the areas of cancer prevention, research and care.
The main objective of the Centre is to build collaborations in the areas of cancer prevention, research and care in an integrated approach involving both modern and traditional medicines. This would pave the way to carry forward the ongoing bilateral dialogue and facilitate collaboration with stakeholders, both national and international, like National Cancer Institute, USA.
The setting up of this Centre is an outcome of the deliberations held in Indo-US workshop held on March 3rd and 4th, 2016 organized by Ministry of Ayush, where the invited US delegates from Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), National Institute of Health, National Cancer Institute deliberated with the eminent experts from India with expertise in cancer research and other promising areas for two days to share experiences and work out a roadmap for future collaborations.
The Centre would be the clearing house for information for Ayush projects on cancer research and management. The Centre was inaugurated on February 3rd 2017 at the NICPR, Noida on the eve of world Cancer Day (4th February). The Centre was inaugurated by Dr. Saumya Swaminathan, Secretary, Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare & Director General, Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) and Ajit Sharan, Secretary, Ministry of Ayush in the presence of Prof. Ravi Mehrotra, Director, NICPR-ICMR.
Addressing the inaugural session, Sharan said that the first idea about collaboration between Ayush and NICPR was given by a team of scientists from USA. This collaboration will definitely lead to development of novel drugs for cancer prevention and management. He further informed that 5 senior research fellowships and 5 post-doctoral fellowships will be released every year (in both modern medicine and Ayurveda) to facilitate quality research in the country in the area of cancer research.
Dr. Soumya Swaminathan added that Bridge courses will be introduced for the practitioners who will be working in Centres of integrative medicine. She said, evaluation of risk factors for cancer should be thoroughly done, especially focusing on dietary risk factors. Dr. Swaminathan gave thrust on extensive research of natural systems of medicine since they follow a holistic approach, unlike the allopathic one.