Integrate technology to take Ayurveda across the world: Experts

Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 14 (PTI) Leveraging technology and scientific processes are vital in establishing Ayurveda as a holistic, sustainable and affordable wellness solution for the whole world, leading experts from across the country said on Tuesday.

Speaking on 'Ayurswasthya', a thematic session held as part of the One Week One Lab (OWOL) programme at CSIR-NIIST here, the panellists said that the time-tested Indian traditional system of medicine could play a vital role in addressing even serious health challenges of the modern world, if appropriate scientific and technological methods and platforms are employed, without diluting the fundamentals required for the validation and regulation of drugs and procedures, an official release said.

As part of OWOL, CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (CSIR-NIIST), a constituent laboratory of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Union Ministry of Science and Technology, is conducting a series of high-profile seminars featuring top scientists, technocrats and administrators on its campus at Pappanamcode in the city.

Opening the session, Dr Manoj Nesary, Adviser-Ayurveda, Ministry of Ayush, said, "Ayurveda is the knowledge of life, and as such it goes beyond the science of life." He went on to claim that Ayurveda had even anticipated serious environmental challenges such as global warming and its impact on the health of living beings on the planet, adding, "But for today's world to understand and use Ayurveda, technology integration is very much needed." Nesary noted that the country had embarked on an ambitious interdisciplinary programme for integration of Ayurveda with technology by entering into collaborations with leading institutions within and outside the country.

Since the approach of Ayurveda itself is interdisciplinary, it could easily integrate itself with proper scientific and technological processes, including those relating to biophysics and biotechnology, Nesary said.

Radha Rangarajan, Director, CSIR-CDRI, Lucknow, said collaborations between open-minded researchers and practitioners from Ayurveda as well as western medicine and biomedical scientists are needed to deliver a truly integrated wellness experience.

Emphasising the need to promote research in Ayurveda in the context of modern science, Rangarajan said identifying the right methodologies, broad-basing clinical trials and greater focus on efficacy and safety are critical.

Referring to the initiatives of Kerala in promoting Ayurveda, Dr Keshvendra Kumar, Special Secretary, Ayush, Government of Kerala, said the upcoming International Centre for Research in Ayurveda in Kannur will be a major facility for advanced research in collaboration with CSIR-NIIST.

Kerala has also made advances in leveraging Ayurveda for addressing lifestyle diseases, Kumar added.

Dr P M Varier, Managing Trustee, Arya Vaidya Sala, Kottakkal, said the sense and essence of the traditional knowledge of Ayurveda must be preserved while taking it forward for the wellbeing of society.

What is needed is to adopt an approach of "revisit, rationalise and revalidate" through scientific and evidence-based research to make the system beneficial in today's world, Dr Varier said. PTI TGB ANE KH KH