The Government of India will soon introduce a special category of visa for foreigners arriving in India for treatment under Ayush methods — Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy, among others.

Addressing the Global Ayush Investment & Innovation Summit 2022 at Gandhinagar on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made this announcement to further push medical tourism in the country, with a special focus on treatments under traditional medical systems.

"The way traditional medicines have boosted tourism in Kerala, we see a similar capabilities in every corner of the country. Heal-in-India can become a big brand for this decade. The Government of India is taking an initiative, under which, if a foreign national wants to take Aush treatment in India, there will be a special category of Ayush Visa, making it convenient for them to visit India," Modi said.

Modi was accompanied by the Prime Minister of Mauritius, Pravind Kumar Jugnauth; World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus; Union Health Minister, Mansukh Mandavia; Ayush Minister, Sabananda Sonowal; Gujarat Chief Minister, Bhupendra Patel; and officials from Central and State governments.

In his address, Tedros underlined the need for further study and clinical trials to “help bring the benefits of traditional and complimentary medicine into wider use, as appropriate, in health systems”.

“The inclusion of traditional medicine in the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases by WHO will help to establish reliable data on the use of traditional medicine,” he said.

“For traditional medicine, innovation should also mean a process of adaptation and evolution,” said Tedros. Notably, Tedros’ visit to India happens at a time, when there were conflicting reports on Covid deaths in India. The WHO chief was seen carefully avoiding the issue during his three-day visit to the State.

Among other important measures announced for sustainability and promotion of traditional medicines commercially sustainable, India will set up a network of Ayush Parks in the country to popularise Ayush products, encourage manufacturing and R&D in the area.

Further, with a special focus on exports, the Government of India has decided to bring Ayush Mark as a quality certification for Ayush products. “This will build consumer confidence on Ayush products and provide global recognition through exports under recently-set up Ayush Export Promotion Council,” said Modi while launching a dedicated portal for the Council.

As the acceptance of traditional medicines is growing, the market for the Ayush products has grown multifold since 2014 from about Three Billion Dollars to about $18.2 Billion now. Modi stated that startup ecosystem will play a major role in further developing Ayush segment. "India is witnessing an era of Unicorns. Very soon we will see Ayush startups joining the Unicorn category," Modi said.

Meanwhile, Tedros announced holding an annual international meet for Traditional medicines in Gujarat. The first meeting will be held next year, when WHO and India together celebrate 75 years, he added.

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