India, Bangladesh reach MoU on traditional medicine, homeopathy

Bangladesh and India have signed a MoU regarding cooperation in the field of traditional systems of medicine and homeopathy.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 9 Sept 2014, 11:51 AM
Updated : 9 Sept 2014, 11:51 AM

Training, research, exchanges of experts and setting up an academic chair are the highlights of this new cooperation envisaged in the MoU on Tuesday.

Health Secretary MM Neazuddin and India’s Secretary for Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturapathy Unani, Siddhi and Homeopathy (AYUSH) Nilanjan Sanyal signed the MoU in Dhaka on the sidelines of the WHO regional meeting.

Health ministers of the two countries Mohammed Nasim and Harsh Vardhan, WHO Director-General Margret Chan and its South-east Asia region (SEARO) Director Poonam Khetrapal Singh were also present during the signing.
Authorities here believe Bangladesh would benefit much as the country lacks in education and research of traditional system of medicines.
India is known for its rich ancient system of medicine called Ayurveda.
The WHO also lays importance on this type of medicine.
The regional meeting in Dhaka on Tuesday, too, has ‘traditional medicines’ on its agenda, highlighting its importance.
India’s AYUSH delegation visited Dhaka in June and discussed this collaboration.
Its cabinet gave the nod a few days back.
Health Minister Vardhan at the inauguration of the WHO meeting said this type of medicines “considers body and soul in treating patients”.
“Ayurveda was the first to conceptualise spiritual health which now even modern medicine views as important,” he said.
“Ayurveda for the first time exhibited an understanding of environmental health describing body as composed of five elements that is earth, space, fire, water and wind.
“So if these get polluted the body gets polluted,” he said, a fact that “modern science only learned in the twentieth century”.
“In no other traditional system medical ethics was given as much importance as in Ayurveda,” he said.
Dilip Kumar Roy, Chairman of Bangladesh Homeopathy Board, hailed the MoU.
“We’ll be benefitted most,” he told bdnews24.com.
“Our doctors (homeopathy) cannot have post-graduation and higher training after graduation. We don’t have such courses or facilities,” he said.
He said teachers would be trained up under the MoU. “There’ll be exchanges between our doctors and teachers.
“It’ll even help us develop drugs. India is much ahead of us in this regard also,” he said.
Bangladesh has 51 colleges for homeopathy education – four-year diploma with six months’ internship and five-year degree programme with one-year internship.
The current government in its last term appointed 94 homeopathy doctors to as many government hospitals.