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The State Government is in talks with pharmaceutical companies with a view to consider steps to control prices of medicines, the Minister for Health, Mr Adoor Prakash, said here.
The Minister said this after releasing the brochure for the Global Ayurveda Festival — scheduled to be held here from February 9 to 14 — recently.
PROFIT MOTIVE
Mr Prakash handed over a copy of the brochure to Dr C. Ratnakaran, Pro Vice-Chancellor of the Kerala University of Health Sciences.
Addressing the assembled practitioners and students of Ayurveda, the Minister reminded them that they should not be guided by profit motive alone.
At a time when new strains of diseases are emerging and those once thought to have been eradicated are returning, the traditional Ayurveda sector could make a significant contribution by getting proactive to promote health and well-being.
Pointing out that more students are coming forward to take up Ayurveda as a profession, the Minister hoped that the proposed global festival would reaffirm the significance of this Indian branch of medicine to the larger world.
HOLISTIC APPROACH
Presiding over the function, Mr N. Sakthan, Deputy Speaker of the State Assembly, said that Kerala could legitimately stake a claim to be the home of Ayurveda.
The Deputy Speaker also called for a holistic approach by integrating different streams of medicines like Ayurveda, allopathy and homeopathy.
Jnanpith award winner Prof O.N.V Kurup, who was the chief guest, said the Ayurveda system had been propounded with a vision to ‘save people' and was not ‘primarily and fundamentally' intended as a business proposition.
Elaborating on the theme of the festival, Dr G. G. Gangadharan, Working Chairman of the Organising Committee, said that its purpose was to reach Ayurveda to more parts of the country and abroad.
VARIOUS PROGRAMMES
A host of programmes, including an international seminar on Ayurveda for non-communicable diseases (NCDs), a health expo, students' conclave, and buyer-seller meet, have been planned.
The festival is an initiative of the Centre for Innovation in Science and Social Action (Cissa) in association with the Ayurveda Department of Government of Kerala, Ayurveda Medical Association of India and Ayurvedic Medicine Manufacturers Organisation of India.
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