WHO: A Traditional Medicine Centre to be set up in India

On November 13, 2020, the World Health Organization announced that it is to set up a traditional medicine centre in India.

Key Highlights

The announcement of establishing the centre was made during the inaugural ceremony of two future ready Ayurveda institutions. These institutions were inaugurated in Jamnagar and Jaipur. The Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda was established in Jamnagar and has been conferred with the status of Institution of National Importance. The National Institute of Ayurveda that has been inaugurated at Jaipur has been designated as the Institution Deemed to be University. The status for these institutions were provided by the University Grants Commission.

The institutes were inaugurated as part of Dhanteras celebrations.

About the Traditional Medicine Centre

The new centre of traditional medicines will support efforts of WHO to implement WHO Strategy of Traditional Medicines 2014-23. The strategy aims to develop policies and action plans to strengthen role of traditional medicines in universal health coverage.

Dhanteras Celebrations

Every year, Dhanteras is celebrated on Dhanvantari Jayanti. Also, the National Ayurveda Day is marked during Dhanteras Celebrations.

Demand for traditional medicines

According to the National Medicinal Plant Board, the global trade of traditional medicines stands at 120 billion USD. It is predicted that it might grow to 7 trillion USD by 2050.

Ayurvedic drugs and USFDA

Several countries have fixed their export and import policies based on USFDA regulations. Some of the European countries have even made it mandatory for a drug to be certified by USFDA for its sale or distribution.

USFDA does not approve compounded drugs. On the other hand, most of the Ayurvedic drugs are compounded.

What is Pharmacy Compounding?

A compounding pharmacist creates medications from base ingredients for patients. It does not hold a pre-mixed formula. The compounding pharmacist begins with base drugs and prepares them to fit an individual patient needs.

Month: Current Affairs - November, 2020