Facelift for Ayurveda under new Act

by Anushka Nanayakkara

Financial allocations for developing the ayurvedic system combined with the new technology and appointing a regulatory committee are some changes under the New Ayurvedic Act which replaced the Act effected in 1961, Secretary, Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medicine Asoka Malimage, told the Sunday Observer.

Registrar of the Ayurveda Council Dr. Dannister L. Perera said strengthening the institutional capacity, enhancement of human resource development and improvement of the community participation are the main features of the new Act. Dr. Perera said with the new technology there will be improvements in many areas in research, treatment, diagnosis, preservation of traditional knowledge and digital library on traditional medicine.

Dr. Perera said that there is a growing demand for ayurveda especially in the tourism sector and therefore implementation to improve the financial contribution is of utmost importance.

A multi-sector programme on a large scale has been initiated in association with the Ministry of Agriculture and Tourism. A national policy on the indigenous system of medicine introduced by the Ministry has already been submitted to the Provincial Council for perusal.