Around 500 delegates from 60 countries comprising of leading medical specialists and experts from related fields including World Health Organisation (WHO) and holistic organisations are addressing issues on the holistic health for the future. The Summit is expected to provide ways of integrating all systems and therapies into the scope of medical treatment and promote the concept of prevention along with cure.

At the inauguration of the 6-day Global Holistic Health Summit, Dr. A B Malakaraddy, minister for medical education, government of Karnataka said, "Medical practitioners need to consider the patient's mental condition while treating most diseases. The mind is equally important to treat body conditions in a patient."

Dr. Malakaraddy, said that inspite of the availability of different systems of medicine, the ailments and diseases were on the rise. The diseases caused by microbial, viral and bacterial infections are due to lack of immunity.

"The advancements in science and technology have provided us the best access to the latest medicines. The approach to treat mind, body and soul is the right approach to diagnose and treat diseases. There could also be reactions from the environment, which need to be looked into. Unless we communicate with the soul, the physical ailments cannot be treated, added the medical education minister.

In the opening remarks at the Summit, Dr. R M Verma, chairman, International Holistic Association and former director, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore said that there has to be a multispeciality approach to treat the diseases. In every health disorder, along with prescribing medication, doctors need to the understand body and mind, provide compassion and empathy while dealing with their patients to treat diseases.

The Global Holistic Health Summit organised by the International Holistic Association and hosted by the International Holistic Health Centre in Bangalore, which is headed by Dr. Isaac Mathai will focus on different systems of medicine like modern medicine, homeopathy, allopathy, Ayurveda, naturopathy, osteopathy, Tibetan medicine, traditional medicine from Africa, Thailand and South America. In addition, the conference is expected to cover a wide variety of therapies like Acupuncture acupressure, yoga therapies, Qi Gong, reflexology and hydrotherapy in integrated medicine.