The Quality Council of India (QCI) is planning to come up with an accreditation programme for ayurvedic colleges in the country by end of this financial year in order to improve the quality of education in the traditional health care system of the country.
It is also mulling similar programmes for allopathic medical colleges in the near future and is in talks with
Medical Council of India in this regard.
“We have already taken up the issue of accreditation of ayurvedic medical colleges with the Union ministry of health and family welfare and expect to come up with the final guidelines by end of March, 2011,” Girdhar J Gyani, secretary general of Quality Council of India, said here on the sidelines of giving accreditation to a city-based ayurveda hospital here.
He also said, there should be a significant improvement in the education system of Indian traditional healthcare to protect our heritage.
Quality Council of India, set up in 1997, is a collaborative effort of the Government of India and three industry chambers of the country, namely Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
The council works under the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion of Ministry of Commerce and
Industry, and operates national accreditation structure to promote quality through the National Quality Campaign.
Gyani also said that that the council was in talks with Medical Council of India (MCI) to frame an accreditation programme for allopathic medical colleges in the country.
He , however, said that the government had no plans to make accreditation mandatory for medical institutions and colleges in the country.
“Today, every health service provider has to be accredited through QCI to participate in the central health schemes. So, government is encouraging health institutions to be accredited with out making it mandatory,” he added.
As per the data available with the council, it has already given its approval for 60 allopathy hospitals since 2005 and are evaluating 500 hospitals as of now.
Of the 500 hospitals, there are around 95 government hospitals that are in various stages of accreditation.
“With the increased importance on AYUSH programme by the government, we are getting lot of inquiries from ayurvedic and other traditional health care institutions for accreditation,” Gyani said. AYUSH stands for Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy.
Usually, the accreditation process takes two-three years to complete and is valid for three years after approval of the QCI. At the end of three years, the entity has to renew its accreditation from the council.
Gyani also said, the council was looking at the issue of quality concerns of various ayurvedic drugs.
