First International Ayush Conference on Indian Medicine to be Held in Dubai

The UAE is set to host the first international conference and exhibition on traditional Indian systems of medicine, such as ayurveda, yoga, naturopathy, Unani, siddha and homeopathy (AYUSH) next month. The event is scheduled to be held from Nov. 9 to 11 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

The initiative is a bid by Indian authorities for promoting wider acceptance of ancient Indian healing practices for lifestyle-related disorders. The theme has been named “Lifestyle diseases- prevention and management through Ayush”.

About 1,200 delegates from over 20 countries, and 30,000 participants, including health policymakers, Ayush entrepreneurs and researchers as well as industry professionals, are expected to attend the event. The Indian government has been giving thrust to traditional forms of healing and treatment after the formation of the Ayush Ministry in November 2014.

The program was announced by Vipul, the Consul General of India in Dubai, while Navdeep Singh Suri, the Indian Ambassador to the UAE, and Dr BR Shetty, the chairman of the organizing committee of Ayush, along with other committee members attended the conference.

The event aims to ensure better education and awareness about these alternative forms of healing, Vipul said. Suri concurred in his statement: “Traditional knowledge is our heritage and should be shared with mankind and that is the idea of some of such initiatives the government of India is taking. Let us look beyond the narrow confines of western medicine and embrace the much more holistic idea of healing that Ayush represents.”

The conference, he added, will shed light on how to manage lifestyle-related ailments with Ayush therapies that the scientific community is researching.

Dr VL Shyam, the general secretary of the organizing committee, pointed out issues of direct billing for medical insurance coverage. At the moment, he said, most insurance companies cover traditional and alternative medicines on a reimbursement level based on the slabs of the policies. “The Ayush systems are approved as medical systems under ‘traditional complementary and alternative medicine’ by the Ministry of Health in UAE since 2003. This event is part of the efforts to make Ayush systems part of mainstream medicine and not just a traditional, complementary and alternative medicine but as a future medicine.”

The conference is being held with the support of Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, the Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development in the UAE.

“I am honored to be the chairman of the organizing committee, mainly, because it was the late Sheikh Zayed’s dream to introduce the idea of herbal medicine in the UAE. There is also a company in his name – Zayed Herbal Centre. I am happy that one of their doctors will also be attending the conference,” Suri said.

The conference is also expected to include a free medical camp for the public at the venue. According to the organizers, Dubai was chosen to host the conference because of its connectivity and the receptive nature of the city.

The consulate will also publicize the facility of free ayurvedic and homeopathic consultation service available at the mission during the conference.

Media launch of our International #AYUSH Conference with a special focus on Lifestyle Diseases. Full details on https://t.co/p4ALBRa801 pic.twitter.com/idOJdQMmix

— IndAmbUAE (@navdeepsuri) October 11, 2017