TN Health Minister Dr V S Vijay says “Practitioners of traditional medical disciplines need to conduct more research into their respective fields if they want to expand their reach”. He urged students and professionals of the disciplines to use such research to capitalise on the fact that Tamil Nadu is a medical tourism hub. The Health Minister’s comments came at the AYUSH 2012 programme held by the Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University. The programme was aimed at celebrating the traditional medical disciplines like Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH). “Many of you must engage in research. Only then can your disciplines grow. Right now there is a big void in the AYUSH systems of traditional medicines. And that is an absence of standardisation,” said Vijay. “Standardisation of medicines needs to be done for sure. Only then can we improve our understanding of how these medicines work,” he added. The Minister also committed the full support of the State government to all research efforts in traditional medical disciplines. The AYUSH 2012 programme also served to honour personalities for their achievements. In all, 12 Lifetime Achievement Awards, 19 Best Teacher Awards and 14 Best Doctor Awards were presented, apart from a number of awards for students studying traditional medicine. State Commissioner for Indian Medicine and Homeopathy T N Ramanathan and Dr Mayilvahanan Natarajan, Vice Chancellor of Dr MGR Medical University, were among those who took part in the function.
Source : IBN Live
