Kerala Ayurveda doctors and students take out protest march for Ayush department
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Ayurveda doctors and students will take out a protest march from the Government Ayurveda College here to the Secretariat on July 16 urging the government to establish Ayush Department in the state.
Ayurveda Aikyavedi chairman V K Ajithkumar said: “The Central Government had established Ayush Department in 2003 so that parallel medicine could be integrated into mainstream medical systems.
A year ago, the State Government had also proposed the establishment of the department. However, it is yet to be actualised. Owing to this, the common man cannot utilise the services of alternative systems such as ayurveda, homoeo, siddha, unani and yoga. Moreover, the functioning of these systems are met with numerous obstacles in the National Health Mission and other schemes.”
He said that the department for alternative medicines was usually separated from the Health Department so that public health programmes could tap into the possibilities offered by alternative medicines.
“However, projects envisioned by the Central Government for the development of ayurveda and other alternative medical systems have not been implemented in the state. Central Ayush Department allocates Rs 940 crore budget for the alternative medicine programmes proposed by various states. Among the 14 states which receive funds allocated for Ayush projects, Kerala receives the lowest share. Of these, 12 states have established the Ayush Department,” he said. [Source]
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