The 250-bedded All India Institute of Ayurveda built at Dhargalim by the Union AYUSH Ministry was on Sunday inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually from the specially erected venue for his valedictory address to the 9th World Ayurveda Congress in the capital.
"A State like Goa which is a hub of tourism can give a further boost to the tourism sector by promoting Ayurveda and Naturopathy. The AIIA can be a step in that direction," Modi said in his speech at the WAC where he inaugurated the institute and two others -- National Institute of Unani Medicine in Ghaziabad and the National institute of Homeopathy in Delhi.
Traditional medicine, he said is growing endlessly and urged the WAC delegates to tap all possibilities.
"For the rural economy, for our farmers a new sector is reopening for which they are getting a good price. The youth will get thousands and lakhs of new jobs and the rising popularity of Ayurveda has another advantage -- ayurvedic and yoga tourism," Modi said.
He urged the delegates, many from foreign countries, to work collectively to enhance the global recognition of Ayurveda.
"I am confident that AIIA Goa, National Institute of Unani Medicine Ghaziabad and NIH Delhi will come together and give new thrust to the AYUSH system," Modi said, even as he acknowledged that as many as 30 countries had now recognised Ayurveda as a traditional medicine system.
The prime minister also spoke of the holistic approach to health in Ayurveda, adding that it goes beyond treatment and promotes wellness.
He recalled that the setting up of a separate AYUSH ministry renewed enthusiasm for Ayurveda.
"Today on the same lines of AIIMS we have opened AIIA and this year too, the Global Ayush innovation and investment summit has been successfully planned for which even WHO has praised us," Modi said.
Noting that evidence is backbone of modern science, Modi acknowledged that Ayurveda fell short on evidence.
"It is now mandatory that we document data based evidence. For this we will have to work endlessly. Our medical data and research and journals, we will have to bring all this together and verify each claim on modern scientific parameters," Modi told the WAC delegates, adding that large scale work on this front had taken place in India in this direction.
He also said, the Centre for integrated medicine at AIIMS, where important research concerning Yoga and Ayurveda is taking place, is getting recognised by international journals.
"Recently several research papers have been published in the journal of Americal College of Cardiology and Neurology," he said.
Dwelling on the economic strengths of the Ayush industry, Modi said multiple opportunities were available.
"In India's Ayush field 40,000 MSMEs, small businesses are bringing new products and various initiatives," he said adding that a Rs 20,000 crore industry has in eight years reached at least Rs 1.5-lakh crore.
"In the coming years its global market will continue to grow. You will be aware that the global herbal medicine and spice market is 1.20 billion dollars that is close to 10-lakh crore," he said.
