Govt to organise World Ayurveda Congress in November

The government will organise the Sixth World Ayurveda Conference (Akhil Bharat Ayurveda Mahasammelan) at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, between November 6 and 9 to celebrate the place of the ‘fifth Veda’ in the mainstream of the Indian public health system, according to Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Health Minister.
 
He informed that the brand new All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) coming up at Jasola, Delhi, will admit the first batch of post-graduate students during the academic year 2015-16. Dr Vardhan said, “One of my first decisions was to approve the course content. I would like to see this develop into an institution comparable to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences - an AIIMS for Ayurveda.”
 
The 200-bed, seven-storey referral hospital, also coming up within the 10-acre campus, will begin to admit patients within six months from now. AIIA will emerge as a Centre of Excellence dealing with fundamental research, drug safety evaluation, standardisation, quality control and scientific validation of Ayurveda medicines.
 
Elaborating on the format of the World Ayurveda Congress, Dr Harsh Vardhan said it will comprise 5 plenary sessions and 25 technical sessions on 15 research themes. In all, 750 scientific papers will be presented by scientists from India, Germany, Italy, USA, Argentina, Russia and many other countries.
 
The international delegate assembly, International Seminar on Medicinal Plants organised by the National Medicinal Plant Board and a Buyer –Seller meet organised by Pharmexcil will be the added attraction of the Congress.
 
“The public will be invited to see for themselves the wonders of our traditional medicines. We will open free consultation facilities where AYUSH doctors will examine all those who turn up and also distribute free medicines. Live Yoga sessions are also planned,” Dr Harsh Vardhan said.