With the herbal and natural products getting more importance and popularity globally, due to various health and environment related causes, the Ayurveda industry in India is experiencing high time in the West Asian health products market. There is an increase in presence of Indian Ayurvedic drug manufacturers in these region as the West Asian population is slowly accepting the method of treatment while earlier the only customers for Ayurveda were expatriates from India, according to industry sources.
The West Asian countries have large populations of Indian origin, who have a decisive role in shaping the market trend there, which is not the case with Western countries. More over, unlike Western countries, the Indians in West Asia are able to retain their basic traits of Indian culture and life style. These unique aspects have made it more feasible for Ayurvedic medicines and therapies to operate in West Asian markets.
But the situation has changed in the recent past. Market reports collected by the industry from franchisee treatment centres in some of the countries shows that the number of natives taking Ayurvedic therapies under the care of qualified and registered Ayurvedic physicians is on the increase in the past four years of their operation.
The Indian Ayurveda pharmaceutical players are slowly expanding their presence in the West Asian market by incorporating appropriate changes in the living and treatment environment as well as in the details of treatment modality, to ensure the efficacy of treatment and comfort of the patient. The Ayurvedic procedures, even though written with the ancient Indian population as the focus, has retained its essential capabilities by withstanding the pressures of changing times in the past several centuries, proving its ability to meet the health needs of universal man, reasons an Ayurvedic expert from the industry.
Some of these nations have started looking at the possibility of according approval for the use of selected herbal medicaments, if approached formally with all the necessary documents and scientific data. There are two operating methods. A qualified Ayurvedic physician can register himself with the Medical Council of the Country. The applicant should have to pass an examination conducted by the Council. A registered physician can run a clinic where medicines can be dispensed and therapies provided to the patients and can import and stock necessary medicines for the purpose, both for internal and external administration.
Entrepreneurs can run the Ayurveda pharmacies after obtaining permission from local authorities and according to policy, the medicines being imported for stocking and selling should be registered (site registration) with the Health Ministry in the concerned nation. According to the law, detailed information should be submitted to the Ministry in Standard Formats pertaining to the Manufacturer's drug manufacturing license, GMP certificate, ingredient details, dosage factor, material safety data sheet, etc., for each product.
The growing presence of Ayurveda system of medicine in these countries also have an influence the operations of the firm in India, maintains reports from Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala, one of the major Ayurveda treatment and drug manufacturing firm in India. According to the company reports, out of about 3500 patients coming to Kottakkal in a year, for treatment from its hospital, about 40 per cent are from abroad. Out of this about 30 per cent is from West Asian countries.
Each of them normally has to stay in the hospital as an in-patient for a period of 21 or 28 days. The sources from the company inform that the number of patients from West Asia is on a rise.
Speaking about the current trends and future of Ayurveda industry in the strictly regulated West Asian countries, Dr T S Muraleedharan, Chief of R&D, Arya Vaidya Sala said, "If the protagonists of Ayurveda want to receive global recognition for Ayurvedic medicines and therapies and also if patients in every nation of the world should have access to Ayurvedic medicines and therapies, then there is no alternative but for them to acquire competitiveness. This will involve revitalisation in every aspect of Ayurvedic operations, keeping the essence of its science and practice pristine and unadulterated."