The Director General Armed Forces Medical Services and Headquarters IDS (Medical) in collaboration with the Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India organized a path breaking Seminar on “IMPLEMENTATION OF AYUSH IN THE ARMED FORCES MEDICAL SERVICES: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES” on 26 Sep 2017 at Army Hospital (Research and Referral), New Delhi.

The benefits of the Indian indigenous systems of Medicine and Yoga are well recognized nationally and globally. The Government of India has taken major initiatives to promote the practice of AYUSH in the country. Lt Gen MK Unni, the Director General Armed Forces Medical Services said mainstreaming of the Indian System of Medicine has been one of the key stated objectives of policy makers in the Government for several years. The integration of AYUSH in the Armed Forces is challenging due to the unique environmental and operational conditions.

Dr Soumya Swaminathan, the Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research said well-coordinated research and clinical trials to establish the efficacy, safety and replicability of the AYUSH medicines will go a long way in promoting mutual trust and respect between the practitioners of the two systems.

Lt Gen CS Narayanan, DCIDS (Medical), the organizing Chairman of the seminar highlighted the fact that clear-cut policies on cross referral and cross practice and accountability mechanisms must be put in place before integrating the modern and traditional systems of Medicine.

            Senior faculty from institutes of excellence across the country, including the All India Institute of Medical Sciences participated in the deliberations which put the various issues related to the topic in perspective and charted the way forward.

Col Aman Anand

PRO (Army)