Team Herald
PANJIM: Ayurveda must increasingly accommodate innovative designs to introduce modern tools that meet global quality standards so as to improve the treatment procedures under the ancient wellness system, experts said at an international health meet, on Friday.
Ayurveda is open to novel ideas, thus enabling constant update of the tradition and its catering to contemporary requirements, a five-member panel reiterated during their presentations on ‘New Age Prospects’.
Dr Sumer Singh of IIT-Delhi emphasised on the successful conversion of cutting-edge technologies into saleable products in a competitive world.
“Several brilliant ideas fade away at the prototype stage. A chunk of those which manage to go further fail at the trial-and-error phase. Eventually, very few make it to the market and stay popular for long,” he said.
India needs more design institutions for the benefit of its ancient wellness systems, the speaker said in his power-point presentation on ‘Technological Dimensions’ that cited design-driven equipment such as herbal fumigator and an automated machine aiding Basti technique which purifies the human intestine.
Dr G G Gangadharan, who is Director of Bengaluru-based Ramaiah Ayurveda Hospital, said integrated medicine should ideally facilitate complementarily of systems.
“Instead, we often see dominant sciences suppressing Ayurveda. That is bad,” he noted. “We should not dilute our principles in the name of promoting integrated medicine.”
Recalling that Ayurveda is the world’s ‘oldest and biggest’ among surviving medical systems, the speaker said, “We must not let its values get misappropriated by global forces.”
Dr Pradeep Dua, Joint Director of Bureau of Indian Standards, said the country is poised for publication of 100 papers on quality certification by this year-end. “Standarisation of products not only guarantees consumer safety; it augments international trade,” he pointed out.
In yet another session on ‘Ayurcosmetology’, the speakers said that maintaining authenticity and quality are vital parameters to tap the huge global demand for Ayurveda-based beauty products which is projected to grow exponentially in the coming year.
Calling for strict regulatory and quality protocols to be put in place, they said defaming Ayurveda and misleading consumers should be avoided as that would damage the reputation of the Indian traditional wellness system and health solutions.
