Workshop on alternative medicine in Ahmedabad

The Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad is conducting a three-day workshop for the department of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH), ministry of Health and Family Welfare, government of India, on Saturday, with the aim of helping it increase its scope.

"The AYUSH system currently constitutes only 0.4% of the healthcare system in India. The workshop, which is a three-tier programme, is aimed at improving this figure," said professor Anil Gupta of IIMA.

He added that the institute will also give recommendations to the health ministry, if something worthwhile comes out of the workshop. Bureaucrats, policy makers and others have attended the workshop in the past.

This session, starting on May 7, will have heads of all the departments -- ayurveda, yoga and naturopathy, unani, siddha and homeopathy - taking part.

The workshop is being conducted to understand what policy makers, practitioners and others in the system are going through, so that problem areas can be found and addressed.

"AYUSH is part of India's future and the workshop is being conducted to look at inclusive healthcare system through alternative medicine.