India moots more regulations on Ayurveda and Yoga
Geneva, May 29 (UNI) - With Ayurveda and Yoga going global in a big way, the Indian government is enforcing more effective regulations on Indian systems of medicine to meet the domestic and international standards.

From January one next year, all the manufacturers of Ayurveda and Unani medicines should display a true list of all ingredients used in each and every drug, AYUSH Secretary Vijay Singh, who was here in connection with the 5-day-long World Health Assembly, organised by the WHO, told UNI.

''Regulation, safety and information are our first priority so that Indian systems of medicine could thrive at its purest form.

There must be a level of regulation and safety norms which are accepted by the modern medicine,'' he said.

Mr Singh said the Indian systems of medicine remained unregulated all these years. However, regulation is taking place now.

With a view to sustaining the increasing popularity of Yoga among the foreigners, Indian governemnt is ready with a set of rules to accredit yoga centres as an effective step to weed out bogus centres.

''The accreditation system will be in place soon. We are working on it, AYUSH director Sangeeta Goyal said, pointing out that the states have been asked to put in place a regulatory system of their own.

The effort is to make the international standards applicable to the domestic market as well, she said.

As part of the World Health Assembly, Department on Ayurveda, Unani, Yoga and Naturopathy, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) has organised an exposition on Indian Medicine to attract global attention to the Indian systems of medicine in the context of alternative systems of medicine becoming popular in the developed countries.

Mr Singh said the government proposed several measures to address the issue of bogusness in Yoga and Naturopathy.

He said the AYUSH was now concentrating on spreading the scientific basis of Ayurveda so that the claims regarding cure were validated.

In this context, he referred to the ban on certain ayurvedic drugs imposed by countries like Singapore, Canada, Denmark, Ireland in view of the use of heavy metals like mercury in excess of the limit.