The Environment and Development Initiatives for Thiruvananthapuram (EDIT), a high profile NGO for the development of the state capital, will soon submit a project to the Kerala Government for setting up an International Institute of Ayurvedic Medical Sciences (IIAMS), envisaged as the premier Ayurvedic research and treatment institution in the country.
An EDIT meeting on Thursday last week approved the draft blue print of IIAMS, developed by a group of experts headed by P Sankaran, director, Kerala Ayurveda Medical Education. A detailed project report will be soon submitted to the Kerala Government to initiate the public-private partnership project, estimated at an investment of over Rs 150 crore.
Talking to Pharmabiz, Dr Sankaran said the project would have various components like advanced research in Ayurveda by a tie up with various leading healthcare institutions in different parts of the world, drug development and a 500 bedded multi-specialty treatment center of global standards.
The treatment centre will be a Center of Excellence offering multi-specialty treatment in eight disciplines related to Ayurveda, in panchakarma, surgery, ophthalmology, ENT, dentistry, maternal and child care, social and preventive medicine, pharmacy and drug research. Envisaged in the line of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), the center envisions attracting patients from different parts of the world. Though initially it was planned to set up the whole facility under a single roof on a 50 acre suitable land outside the city, the treatment centre could be located within the city for the convenience of patients, said Dr Sankaran, who added the blue print works out a revenue of Rs 10 to 15 crore annually alone from the treatment centre.
The IIAMS will have a drug research and development arm, besides a cent per cent Export Oriented manufacturing unit of Ayurvedic prescription drugs and nutraceuticals contributing at least Rs 5 crore revenues since the initial year of inception. Research and development facilities will conform to global standards for phyto-toxicological studies, clinical validation and standardization of drugs.
The centre will have a databank on clinical studies, apart from a digital library network for various research institutions worldwide. The centre will enter into strategic tie-ups for data sharing, faculty exchange and technological know-how with various leading research agencies for drug development and standardization. IIAMS will also cultivate rare medicinal plants at an area of 100 acres to ensure quality supply chain of raw materials for drug development.
Another major component of the project would be to have facilities for research at the highest level in doctoral and postdoctoral level in Ayurveda. Apart form Ayurveda, the IIAMS will work in tandem with other segments of ISM sector for drug research and treatment.
Further, another major component of the project would be to develop a full- fledged Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Centre, envisaged to provide comprehensive information and guidance on IPR for treatment practices, raw material and biodiversity, and drugs development.
Funds for the project would be mainly from the private sector, and the government would act as a facilitator. A separate entity, run by a management committee headed by various related government departments should implement and manage the project. The project envisages Central and State Government assistance, and details would be given in the detailed report, said Dr Sankaran.
It may be noted that EDIT, mainly consisting of top level bureaucrats, business men and retired officials residing in Thiruvananthapuram and under the chairmanship of former Kerala chief secretary R Ramachandran Nair, had submitted a similar proposal to the Central Government to set the International Institute of Ayurveda in Kerala. However, the former government decided to establish the same in New Delhi.