Union ayush minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who chaired the regional review meeting of Northeast states in Guwahati on August 25, has appealed to all the states of the Northeast to explore the possibility of setting up an integrated ayush department in all its leading state hospitals.
“I would like to call all the states of northeast India to explore the possibility of setting up an integrated ayush department in all its leading state hospitals, in line with the setting up of similar departments in all 19 AIIMS, under the guidance of prime minister Narendra Modi,” said Sonowal.
“Today, we are presented with this unique opportunity to kick start a movement to set up integrated medicine departments in all our leading state hospitals, thereby popularising and implementing the concept of integrated medicine to be emulated by the whole country.”
In the first Regional Review Meeting of Ayush for #NorthEast states held in Guwahati – we took the collective pledge to –
🌿Realise potential for industrial growth, production, procurement & marketing of Ayush products
🌿Take Integrative Medicine to the grassroots
🌿 Explore… pic.twitter.com/HVwNWYl2wI
— Sarbananda Sonowal (@sarbanandsonwal) August 25, 2023
The regional review meeting was ceremonially inaugurated by Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma along with Sarbananda Sonowal. The ceremony was also attended by health ministers of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim, and Tripura along with senior officials from Meghalaya, Nagaland as well as other states of the region.
Adding further, Sarbananda Sonowal said: “PM Narendra Modi-led government has approved for operationalisation of 12,500 Ayush Health & Wellness Centres (AHWCs) by the ministry of Ayush through state governments as a component of the centrally sponsored scheme (CSS) of National Ayush Mission (NAM) in a phased manner by 2023-24.”
He said the main objectives are to establish a holistic wellness model based on AYUSH principles and practices, to empower the masses for “self-care” to reduce the disease burden, out of pocket expenditure and to provide informed choices to the needy public.
“Ministry of Ayush has released Rs. 449.64 crores to Northeast states under the National Ayush Mission from 2014-15 to 2022-23. Ministry has also supported 33 Integrated Ayush hospitals in NE states from 2014-15 to 2022-23 and out of that nine are operational as reported by states,” Sonowal said.
Out of 12,500 AHWCs, the ministry has supported 879 AHWCs in NE states and out of that 492 are reported functional by the NE states.
