Fostering a pioneering effort in aligning traditional medicine research with global standards and priorities, the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), an apex autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Ayush, has signed two Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with Shri Krishna Ayush University, Kurukshetra & Dabur, a leading Ayurvedic company in India. CCRAS has also launched its new and updated website.

A first of its kind consultative meet was held, where the MoUs were signed, that brought together representatives from diverse domains of Traditional Medicine (TM) in India, including policymakers, academic institutions, researchers, patients, and industry stakeholders. The aim is to identify and prioritise key research areas across various traditional medicine systems such as Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani, and Homeopathy.

The one-day National Consultative Meet on 'Research Priority Settings in Traditional Medicine' was held on June 24, 2024, at the India Habitat Center, New Delhi, in collaboration with the WHO-SEARO (World Health Organisation – South East Asia Region office) office and WHO-GTMC (World Health Organisation – Global Traditional Medicine Centre)

Vaidya, Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, Ministry of Ayush, said “The objective is to ensure effective utilisation of funds and address critical areas of need within traditional medicine, including medicinal plant research, quality, safety, and efficacy studies, pre-clinical validations, rational use of traditional medicines, clinical trial monitoring, medical anthropology, and the digitalisation of ancient medical literature and thereby supporting its global acceptance and integration”. 

Prof. (Vd.) Kartar Singh Dhiman, Vice Chancellor of Sri Krishna Ayush University, Kurukshetra, Haryana, emphasised the importance of MoU and under its ambit both parties will look at fostering the path for academic and research collaborations that provides opportunity to researchers and scientists for exchange of ideas through workshops, seminars.

Dr Baidyanath Mishra, Head- R&D Healthcare Research, Dabur Research And Development Centre, Dabur India highlighted that collaborations and cooperation in pharmaceutical R&D for different novel dosage forms and drug development, capacity building, knowledge sharing and training in the field of Ayurveda will be undertaken under the said MoU.