The Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM) will consider the advice and suggestions of academic experts for reforming the curriculum and teaching methods for Ayurveda education, and no hesitation is there on the side of CCIM to reform the syllabus and instruction methods, said Dr V Arunachalam, president of CCIM.
The CCIM president, who is an academic expert in traditional systems of medicine, said it is the need of the hour to change the curriculum of the Ayurveda medical education in accordance with the changing pattern of teaching methods to ensure that the level of academics and researches is improved. But the uniqueness of the ancient Indian wisdom has to be maintained without losing the heritage quality.
He was addressing the ayurvedic professionals and manufacturers in Thrissur in Kerala in a meeting organised to felicitate him for his nomination as the president of the central council by government of India. The meeting was organised by the Ayurvedic Medicine Manufacturers Organisation of India (AMMOI).
Pointing out the potential of Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani drugs in curing illness, Dr. Arunachalam said there are conventional methods to prove the efficacy of traditional medicines and it has already proven that these medicines are strong in addressing diseases. The qualified professionals in the systems should have the confidence in the methods of treatments and in the drugs they prescribe. In the present day world of science and technology, it is helpful to take support of medical technologies in areas wherever required to diagnose the diseases for better handling. According to him, the Indian traditional systems of medicine are native systems and they cannot be alternative.
Later while speaking to Pharmabiz, the president of the central council said the Indian traditional medical systems are facing big challenges and competitions from the modern system in which the number of physicians is increasing. Wrong notion is disseminated to the public and also the world over that the efficacy of traditional medicines is not proven scientifically and the quality of raw materials is uncertain. This is a deliberate attempt from certain quarters to tarnish the potentiality of the age old curing system of the country.
Admitting that each system has its own merits and demerits, Dr. Arunachalam said he can guarantee one thing that if the traditional drugs made out of proper raw materials with good standardization and proper treatment is provided in unison, no kind of harm will be affected to any organ in the human body. But propaganda is spread against the ASU drugs that it is dangerous to human body and has no efficacy proof. Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani systems are the most important traditional systems among the 5000 traditional healing systems found in various parts of the world, he claimed.
AMMOI general secretary Dr. D. Ramanathan, while delivering the welcome speech, wanted the CCIM president to take urgent steps for curriculum reforms for the Ayurveda education. He said maintenance of heritage and quality in treatment are the basic principles needed for the growth of Ayurveda.
Padmashree Dr. K Krishnakumar, Chancellor of Avinashilingam University in Coimbatore and the chairman of AMMOI, presided over the meeting.