The Union AYUSH Minister spoke to The Hindu about Yoga Day, recommending yoga for school and college students and preparing a blueprint for standardization of AYUSH medical interventions and medicines.
Spoke to Union Ayush Minister Hindu About Yoga Day, recommending Yoga for school and college students and a blueprint for standardization of AYUSH medical interventions and medicines.
What program is the ministry planning ahead of Yoga Day for India and the international community? Which countries have we tied up with for this initiative?
In celebration of 75 years of India’s Independence and Amrit Mahotsav of Independence, Ministry of AYUSH has decided to observe the countdown to International Day of Yoga (IDY) 2022 from the 100th day starting from 13th March. During this period, Yoga Mahotsav will be celebrated in a certain city every day. By June 21, 100 cities across India will celebrate this festival of health and wellness.
The ministry will leverage its reach through social media platforms. The MyGov platform of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology will launch citizen-centric awareness building and engaging activities and the Ministry of AYUSH will work to raise awareness and spread knowledge about the rewards associated with the practice of Yoga.
We are tying up with various industry bodies/associations like ASSOCHAM, FICCI, CII, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry along with leading yoga organizations and institutions to celebrate International Day of Yoga. The ministry will coordinate with missions abroad through the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) to make it a grand event across the world.
Will yoga be made compulsory in schools and as part of training for allopathic graduates?
The ministry has requested the National Medical Commission (NMC), National Commission for Homeopathy (NCH) and National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM) to include yoga in their curriculum.
Understanding the need for all round development of children under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Samagra Shiksha, sports and physical education component has been started to promote sports, physical activities, yoga, co-curricular activities etc. In addition, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has made health and physical education compulsory in all classes from I-XII.
Schools have been advised that health and physical education comprises three areas i.e. health education, physical education and yoga and all three areas are essential for achieving holistic health (physical, mental, intellectual, emotional, social and spiritual).
The National Curriculum Framework (NCF) recommended yoga as an integral part of health and physical education. The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has already developed Integrated Curriculum on Health and Physical Education from Class I to X.
What are the future plans in terms of standardizing drugs and treatments so that they can be shared with the national and international community?
Central Appellate Laboratories for Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homeopathy Medicines, namely, Pharmacopoeia Laboratory of Indian Medicine and Homeopathy Pharmacopoeial Laboratory (PLIM & HPL) merged with Pharmacopoeia Commission of Indian Medicine and Homeopathy (PCIMH) in 2020-2021 Was. With a vision to optimize the utilization of infrastructure, technical manpower and financial resources of all three for their effective regulation and quality control to enhance the standardization results of Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homeopathy medicines.
This merger will facilitate focused and integrated development of standards for AYUSH drugs and publication of pharmacopeias and formularies.
The standards for identification, purity and strength of Ayurvedic, Siddha, Unani and Homeopathic medicines have been developed by the respective Pharmacopoeia Committees working under the purview of the Pharmacopoeia Commission of Indian Medicine and Homeopathy (PCIM&H).
Permissible limits of heavy metals, pesticide residues, aflatoxin and microbial load and standard operating procedures for the manufacture of Ayurvedic, Siddha, Unani and Homeopathic medicines are also given in the Pharmacopoeia and Formulary. These Pharmacopoeia and Formulas are published by the Central Government and have been included in the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 as official books for the purpose of quality control.
In order to maintain authentic samples of medicines mentioned in ASU&H Pharmacopeia, PCIM&H has also started upgradation of existing herbal gardens in the campus with financial support from NMPB.
So far the government has published Ayurvedic Formulary (Part I-III) containing 986 formulations, Siddha Formulary (Part I-II) containing 400 formulations and National Formulary of Unani Medicine (Vol. I-VI) containing 1,230 formulations. Monographs of quality standards of 645 single drugs and 203 formulations of Ayurveda; 139 Single drugs and 1 formulation of Siddha; 298 Single Drugs and 201 Formulations of Unani; and 1,117 medicines of homeopathy (Volume IX).
In addition, the Ministry is also implementing a new Central Sector Scheme for AYUSH Drug Quality and Production Promotion Scheme with a financial outlay of Rs 122 crore. For 2021-2026. One of the components of the scheme is to support development and validation/certification of standards for AYUSH products and materials in collaboration with relevant scientific institutions and industrial R&D centres.
It is observed that while these indigenous standards differ from each other for certain parameters and for export of herbs/herbal products, each country of import demands different standards. The Ministry has initiated and is working on the concept of “One Herb One Standard” with a view to initiate, coordinate, monitor and rationalize the standardization of Pharmacopoeia.
Recently, PCIM&H has entered into an MoU with American Herbal Pharmacopoeia, USA to promote export of Ayurvedic medicines and to create awareness about Ayurveda and other Indian systems of medicine among the international community. The first phase of monograph development on an international standard has already been started.