Traditional medicine exports to get a global boost as WHO’s GCTM gets India address

India’s ancient Ayurvedic and traditional medicine exports set to get a global boost as the World Health Organisation (WHO) plans to set up a Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (GCTM) in the country following a spurt in exports of such products in the recent past reflecting its growing popularity in many countries.

The AYUSH ministry has said the GCTM will strengthen the evidence-based research, training in the field of traditional medicines and will support generating global awareness and recognition of ancient Ayurveda and other traditional systems of medicine within the country and across the globe.

The government has welcomed this WHO initiative and mentioned that the GCTM would emerge as a centre of global wellness and promote the development of medicines and research related to traditional medicine, MoS for AYUSH Kiren Rijiju said.

“This centre will support efforts to implement WHO’s traditional medicine strategy, which aims to support nations in developing policies and action plans to strengthen the role of traditional medicine as part of its universal health coverage,” the minister said.

Rijiju said the government plans to capitalize on the GCTM and push India’s Ayurvedic products and its ancient traditional knowledge to other countries. The global centre will help in implementing, propagating and expanding India’s traditional medicine outside the country, the minister added.

He said in view of the upsurge in exports of Ayurveda-related products and services, the AYUSH ministry, in association with the ministry of commerce, is also forming an export promotion council and has appointed the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) as a nodal agency to coordinate with other industry bodies and other players in the field.

To boost export of AYUSH products, the ministry is also providing incentives to AYUSH drug manufacturers for registration of AYUSH products with US Food and Drug Administration, European drug regulator EMEA, Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency-UK, Natural Health Products Directorate of Canada and Therapeutic Goods Administration of Australia and other international regulatory agencies abroad for the purpose of export, Rijiju said

The minister said so far over 50 AYUSH products have been registered in eight countries namely Kenya, US, Russia, Latvia, Canada, Oman, Tajikistan and Sri Lanka.