India today signed two memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with Argentina and Israel ahead of the three-day 7th World Ayurvedic Congress here from December 2 for cooperation in research and development in the field of ayurvedic sciences.
The first MoU was signed between Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), under Ministry of Ayush, and the Medical Research Infrastructure and Health Sciences Fund of Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Centre, Israel.
The second one was signed between CCRAS and the Government of Instituto Unversitario del Gran Rosario and the Government of Fundacion de Salud Ayurveda Prema, Argentina, on the establishment of an Academic Chair in Ayurveda.
Inaugurating the International Delegates Assembly of the World Ayurveda Congress here, Ayush ministry Secretary Ajit Sharan said the ancient science of ayurveda was undergoing a "second renaissance" and a wave of globalisation.
Speaking about the history and evolution of ayurveda, Sharan said ayurveda reached South-East Asia, the Far-East and China when Hindu and Buddhist monks from India went to those countries where this ancient Indian science blended with local traditions for further improvement.
In modern times, ayurveda has reached Europe, America and the other western countries too, where medical fraternity and health researchers are looking for leads in traditional medicines, especially in cases where conventional medicine has failed, Sharan said.
The Centre has announced 150 research fellowships in the field of Ayush out of which 100 or so would be awarded to ayurveda researchers, he added.
The Ayush ministry works for development of education and research in ayurveda, yoga and naturopathy, unani, siddha and homoeopathy.
Ayurveda must appeal to the modern generations to create demand and thus to make further headway and this ancient science must be explained in a language understood by the modern scientific community, he said.
Stating that basic fundamentals of ayurveda must be interpreted through the prism of modern science, he asked ayurvedic community and researchers to create research protocols that would be at par with modern science.
In this context, Sharan also stated that Ministry of Ayush has signed an agreement with WHO to develop benchmarks for research and practice of ayurveda.
This will lead to standardisation of ayurveda practice and convergence will happen between ayurveda terminologies and International Classification of Diseases (ICD).
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