The details of the tie-up with the US were given by the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for AYUSH, Shripad Yesso Naik in a written reply in Rajya Sabha. (PTI)

India and US are collaborating for Research and Development (R&D) for the first time in the area of traditional medicine systems that will help treat various diseases. With regards to this, an India-US workshop on Traditional Medicine with a special focus on cancer was organized on in March this year.

A US team comprising of experts from National Cancer Institute (NCI) took part in the two-day exhaustive workshop, that resulted in significant leads, says the Ministry of AYUSH. The details of the tie-up with the US were given by the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for AYUSH, Shripad Yesso Naik in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.

This is part of the Ministry of AYUSH’s mandate to promote and propagate AYUSH systems of medicine across the globe. In order to achieve this goal, the Ministry of AYUSH has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) for ‘Country to Country’ cooperation in the Traditional Medicines field.

The idea is also to set up AYUSH Academic Chairs in foreign universities and educational institutes and establish AYUSH Information Cells in Indian missions abroad or Indian Cultural centres for the dissemination of authentic information about AYUSH systems of medicine. The Ministry aims to enter into MoUs with foreign institutes for undertaking collaborative research as well.

Meanwhile, the government also plans to ensure availability of good quality herbs for making Ayurvedic medicines. For this, the National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB) has been promoting large-scale cultivation of herbs and medicinal plants in a mission mode under “Medicinal Plants” component of “Centrally Sponsored Scheme of National AYUSH Mission (NAM).

The scheme for the cultivation of medicinal herbs and plants is being implemented through Mission Directors identified in different states and UTs.