India’s traditional medicine not limited to just treatment, rather holistic science of life: PM Modi

PM Modi speaking at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in Jamnagar, “Traditional medicine of India is not limited to just treatment, rather it is a holistic science of life. In addition to healing, Ayurveda includes social health, mental health, happiness, environmental health, compassion, empathy and productivity.”  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday laid the foundation stone of the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in Jamnagar, Gujarat.

WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, state Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Union AYUSH Minister Sarbananda Sonowal were present at the ceremony.

Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (GCTM) will be the first and only global outpost centre for traditional medicine across the world. It will emerge as an international hub of global wellness.

The Centre aims to channel the potential of traditional medicine, by integrating it with technological advancements and evidence-based research.

Speaking at the event, PM Modi said, “I am grateful to Dr Tedros (WHO-DG) and thank him on behalf of every Indian. He made us feel ‘Triveni’ in a way and touched our hearts by speaking in Gujarati, Hindi, English. I have known Dr Tedros for a long time and every time we have met, he has mentioned his learnings from his Indian teachers with such prestige, expressed his sentiments with such cheer, that his affection for India is visible in the form of an Institute today.”

“Today, when India is celebrating the nectar festival of independence, the foundation stone laid during that period is ushering in the era of traditional medicine across the world for the coming 25 years,” PM Modi further said.

“More than 5 decades ago, the world’s first Ayurveda University was established in Jamnagar. Here is one of the best Ayurveda Institute of Teaching & Research in Ayurveda,” said PM Modi. Now this global center of the World Health Organization will give Jamnagar a new height in the field of wellness at the global level, he added.

PM Modi added, “Traditional medicine of India is not limited to just treatment, rather it is a holistic science of life. In addition to healing, Ayurveda includes social health, mental health, happiness, environmental health, compassion, empathy and productivity.”

PM Modi is on a three-day visit to Gujarat. Earlier in the day, he dedicated to the nation a new dairy complex and potato processing plant at Diyodar, Banaskantha district, built at a cost of over Rs 600 crores.