Traditional Medicine

Traditional Medicine

BHU to come up with guidelines on ayurvedic medicines
Naveen Kumar, TNN Jul 13, 2011, 09.29pm IST

VARANASI: The Department of Rasa Shastra, Faculty of Ayurveda, Banaras Hindu University, is all set to come up with consumer guidelines for appropriate use of ayurvedic medicines. The guidelines would be developed under a short-term WHO project, sponsored by the Department of AYUSH, New Delhi, to promote rational use of ayurvedic medicines across the globe.

"It is the first of its kind project in the university that intends to develop reference documents for promoting the rational use of traditional medicine in primary health care, as emphasised in the collaborative work plan of the WHO and the Government of India," informed Anand Chaudhary, principal investigator of the project. Saying that the project has been planned in view of the emerging concerns of quality, safety and efficacy of ayurvedic medicines, he also emphasised that it would generate the need for public awareness for rational use of ayurvedic medicines. "It strongly advocates the consumer's right to be informed of the proper use of ayurvedic medicines and also intends to develop awareness generative tool for promoting appropriate use of remedies of ayurveda, which is one of the officially recognised systems of health care widely used in the country," he added.

It may be mentioned here that a consultation meeting with a number of ayurveda experts in the country, including representative of WHO, New Delhi, representative of Department of AYUSH along with representative of NIA, Jaipur, IPGTRA, Jamnagar, national and state ayurvedic colleges, is proposed for finalisation of guideline after literary survey under the project.

Similarly, a host of local experts from the university including RH Singh, Professor Emeritus, Department of Kayachikitsa, BHU, M Dwivedi, Department of Prasutitantra, VK Joshi, Department of Dravyaguna, M Sagu, Department of Shalyatantra and Neeraj Kumar from the Department of Rasa Shastra are also involved in setting up reference guidelines in the project.