Nepal's Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' on Friday sought India's help in the research and exploration of Ayurveda in the Himalayan nation. Inaugurating the 7th International Ayurveda Congress here, Prachanda said his government will promote health tourism by popularising Ayurveda and take decisions to systematise the imports and exports of the most essential medicinal herbs. He promised to make Nepal's oldest company manufacturing ayurvedic medicines Singhdurbar Vaidyakhana (currently known as Singhdurbar Vaidyakhana Bikash Samiti) vibrant and upgrade it as a national pride project.
"Policy decisions will be taken bearing in mind the need to fully operate the National Ayurveda Research and Training Centre and intensify research on indigenous herbs," he said.“The government is working on a policy to establish a centre for manufacturing Ayurvedic medicines and collecting and processing medicinal herbs at each of the seven provinces," Prachanda said. The prime minister sought cooperation from India's Ministry of Ayush to help Nepal in the research and exploration of Ayurveda. Ambassador of India to Nepal Naveen Srivastava also attended the event which began on Friday.
He said the government of India has prioritised and promoted Ayurveda by establishing the Ministry of Ayush. Some initiatives have already been taken to forge cooperation and collaboration between the two countries to promote Ayurveda and naturopathy and also to produce medicinal herbs, he added. Prachanda promised that steps will be taken to remove hurdles in the imports and exports of most essential medicinal herbs in order to facilitate the manufacturing of Ayurvedic medicines. Prachanda said conditions will be created for exporting medicinal herbs and assured of government grants for farming herbs.
“We should focus on establishing Ayurvedic hospitals, funding exploration and research on Ayurvedic medicines, start manufacturing Ayurvedic medicines on large scale and promote Ayurvedic education,” he said. Underlining the need for establishing more Ayurvedic hospitals, wellness clinics and yoga and meditation centres to promote health tourism in Nepal, Prachanda said a policy decision has already been taken in this direction. He also said the government was planning to establish a 100-bed Ayurveda hospital in all seven provinces of the country.
Ayurveda experts, researchers, government officials, entrepreneurs and doctors from over a dozen countries including India, Germany, Australia and The Netherlands are attending the three-day conference aimed at popularising the Ayurveda system of treatment and promoting health tourism. The conference is being organised in collaboration with Ayurveda-related national and international organisations including the Nepal Maharishi Vedic Foundation (NMVF), and the International Maharishi Foundation, according to Dr Kopila Adhikari, General Secretary of the Ayurveda Doctors Association of Nepal.
More than 250 delegates, including 100 international delegates, are attending the three-day conference under the theme 'Ayurveda for all health' which kicked off in Kathmandu on Friday, she informed. NMVF President Dipak Prakash Banskota expressed hope that the conference would help in disseminating information about Nepal's traditional ayurvedic system and Ayurvedic medicines to the world. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Kathmandu University and the Maharshi International University of the Netherlands to forge collaboration for conducting research and exploration on Yoga and meditation.
