: The government will set up Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) hospitals in all the districts of the country over the next three-four years, Union Minister Shripad Yesso Naik said on Sunday.
Over 100 such 50-bed AYUSH hospitals have been completed and proposals are coming from state governments and in the next three-four years AYUSH hospitals will come up in all the districts, he said.
"We have brought out a scheme wherein AYUSH hospitals be it Ayurveda...Unani will be set up in every district as per requirement," the Minister of State for AYUSH told reporters on the sidelines of an event here.
Earlier speaking after inaugurating the National Research Institute of Unani Medicine for Skin Disorders, which was upgraded from Central Research Institute of Unani Medicine here, Naik said it was heartening to note the institute has earned worldwide fame for the successful treatment of Vitiligo and other chronic and stubborn diseases.
"This is perhaps the only medical institution in the world which has treated more than 1.5 lakh patients of Vitiligo alone and has developed several drugs for the effective and safe treatment of this disease," he said.
He said the products, practice and practitioners of AYUSH systems are well regulated in the country.
India has also been able to achieve substantial integration by co-location of AYUSH facilities along with conventional facilities at Primary Health and Community Health Centres and district hospitals, he said.
Government has taken many steps including integration of AYUSH in the health delivery system, Naik said adding "our efforts are focussed to tap the real potential of AYUSH systems in imparting preventive, promotive and holistic healthcare to the people."
He further said the government was also providing increasing patronage and funds for multi-faceted development of Unani system of medicine as well as other AYUSH systems of medicine.
"In India, we have a good infrastructure of Unani System of Medicine and presently there are 55 academic institutions that impart Unani medical education. Out of them 14 are conducting MD programmes," Naik said.
The AYUSH systems are meant to enhance the total health of a human being, i,e. social, mental and physical wellbeing, he said.
"We understand that targetting only the sick persons and aiming for their medical treatment is not sufficient to attain the goal of complete health. It is easier to prevent the diseases rather than attempting for their cure.
"Obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases including hypertension are some of the current health issues faced by the world. In this scenario, our age-old traditional systems of medicine stand out as a way of coping with the relentless rise of chronic, non-communicable diseases," he added.
Union Minister of State for Home GKishanReddy also spoke.
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