The central government has drawn up an ambitious roadmap to promote Indian Systems of Medicine (ISM) like Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani, and therapies such as yoga and naturopathy through the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM).

With yoga and naturopathy gaining worldwide acceptance, the government is now gearing up to address health issues across the population through these systems of medicine, stated S Gandhiselvan, minister of state for health and family welfare.

“It is a foregone conclusion that yoga and naturopathy can prevent and cure various forms of ailments. In the last three decades, Yoga, in particular, has become popular all over the world as an effective disease management strategy. The government has decided to give special impetus to Yoga and Naturopathy so that the objectives of NRHM are met through the ISM,” he stated at the ‘Arogya Expo 2012’ and the ‘International Conference on Yoga and Naturopathy’ (ICYN) Bengaluru held here from February 9-13.

The broad policy support extended to the development of Ayush systems of medicine has ensured the organized development of all these six systems of healthcare based on their individual merits and strengths.

The launch of NRHM has been significant for Ayush systems, as one of its objectives was to promote the effective provision of the healthcare to the masses. Under NRHM, AYUSH doctors and facilities are being introduced in primary health centres and community health centres throughout the country.  The availability of AYUSH facilities in PHCs and CHCs would ensure that the entire range of medical facilities would be available to the public and to the poor in particular. The main streaming of AYUSH in the healthcare system will have a significant impact on the health status of the people, stated the minister.

“The NRHM is significant for ISM, as it is capable of meeting the objectives of India’s health requirements. The government intends to introduce ISM at the primary health centres and community health centres all over the country shortly. Yoga and naturopathy have been accepted for effective disease management because of their unique and holistic healing approaches. It is time we also took advantages of the same by introducing them through public health system,” the minister added.

He pointed out that there were 6 lakh practitioners of ISM and homoeopathy in the country. However, that number was still insufficient to address the health issues plaguing the country.

“The government is evolving a broad policy to promote ISM and Ayush colleges. At present, there are 488 Ayush colleges in the country. But the quality of education is a concern. We will make suitable suggestions after consulting experts in the field to improve the quality of education,” he explained.