India and the UK must work together on promoting the ancient Indian medical science of Ayurveda, believes well-known cosmetic entrepreneur Shahnaz Husain, who said she has dedicated her life to promote India's plant power around the world.
During a seminar on 'Ayurveda: A power for health & beauty', organised by the Indian High Commission in London on Wednesday evening, the founder, chairperson and managing director of the Shahnaz Husain Group spoke of the importance of moving away from chemicals in cosmetics.
"The purpose of my life is to sell India's 3,000-year-old civilisation in a jar. The human race is using chemicals for beauty, which is a very dangerous trend," said Husain.
"I have therefore dedicated my life to promote Ayurveda to the world and replacing chemicals with herbs," she said.
The seminar, which included addresses by the Kairali Ayurvedic Group from Kerala and Dr Tanuja Nesari, professor and head of department of Dravyaguna at the All India Institute of Ayurveda in Delhi, focussed on the key milestones in the Indian government's efforts to put Ayurveda on the world map.
"Many countries have started adopting the system of Ayurveda, several medical institutes have adopted it as an alternative treatment and the government of India is working on collaborative projects with the World Health Organisation (WHO) to promote this Indian traditional system of medicine across the globe," said Ruchi Ghanashyam, the Indian High Commissioner to the UK.
She announced that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the All India Institute of Ayurveda and College of Medicine UK to promote academic collaboration in the field of Ayurveda in 2018 during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's UK visit was in progress.