JOIN USIndia to offer holistic treatment to the world through Ayush on Yoga Day
India is set to roll out on June 21 its national policy to offer to the people around the world “holistic healing” through Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (Ayush) under a well-regulated and transparent framework.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi may launch the policy, which has been given a final shape by the Union Tourism Ministry to boost 'Ayush Wellness Tourism' in India after several rounds of meetings with the stakeholders.
"We will launch the policy along with guidelines on International Yoga Day. We are in touch with the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to see if our Prime Minister can launch the policy," Union Minister Mahesh Sharma told members at a meeting of the National Wellness and Medical Tourism Board here on Monday.
The Ministry set up the board in 2015 to frame a common policy for operation of the Wellness and Medical Tourism in India. It, however, decided to treat Ayush as an independent healthcare sector in India from the “modern healthcare” sector of Allopathy and frame separate policies and guidelines for the two.
The Wellness and Medical Tourism policy for the modern healthcare sector of the Allopathy will be unveiled in “three to four weeks” after incorporation of the suggestions that the Ministry has received from various stakeholders.
“It is almost ready. We may have have one more short meeting before giving it a final shape,” the Union Minister told the members of the board, requesting them send in their suggestions for the final draft of the policy.
Under the Ayush wellness tourism policy, an institution with ISO 9004 certificate will be allowed to offer treatment in Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha or Homeopathy to the patients to be visiting India from abroad under the 'Ayush Wellness Tourism' programme of the Ministry.
Institutions offering courses in Yoga and Naturopathy will also be promoted under the programme, provided they have ISO 9004 certificate. Earlier, there was a proposal to allow only those institutions offer healthcare treatment to the foreign patients which are certified by the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH) which functions under the Union Health Ministry.
The NABH accreditation will be only applicable to the hospitals and other healthcare providers which offer treatment in Allopathy. A decision to get Ayush healthcare institutions out from the requirement of NABH accreditation has been taken on the recommendation of a committee headed by the Prime Minister's Yoga coach HR Nagendra, who is also chancellor of Shri Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana (S-Vyasa) university in Bengaluru.
“NABH accreditation criteria is too rigorous. Only two-three institutions (offering alternative healthcare in Yoga and other systems) would be able to qualify. ISO 9004 certification would be better,” Nagendra told the members at the meeting.