PM Modi to inaugurate WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine at Jamnagar today

The WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesu and Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth will be present for the ceremony.   

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in Ahmedabad for his three-day visit to Gujarat. 

On his second day, on Tuesday, he will lay the foundation stone of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in Jamnagar by 3:30 PM. 

He is also scheduled to lay the foundation stone of multiple development projects at the Banas Dairy Sankul in Diyodar, Banaskantha, in a day.

Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, the Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia Region, stated that it would be a 'game-changer' as India is set to establish the WHO Global Centre for the traditional medicine in Jamnagar, Gujarat. Traditional medicines have been around for millennia and pointed out that nearly 80 per cent of the people, out of 194, 170 WHO member countries, use them. 

The WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesu and Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth will be present for the ceremony. 

The centre has main four objectives, to maximise traditional medicine's contribution to global health, evidence and learning, data and analytics, sustainability and equity, and innovation and technology.

The Gujarat government has donated 35 acres of free land for the centre. The project will be finished in 2024. However, the centre's operations will begin this month in a makeshift location.

Earlier, PM Modi stated that India is honoured to host the World Health Organization's Global Centre for Traditional Medicine. Additionally, the government would work to make the world a healthier place by harnessing India's rich traditional practices for global benefit. The centre will go a long way toward improving our society's overall health.

The Ministry of Ayush stated that the centre's main objective would be to use contemporary science and technology to harness the potential of traditional medicine from around the world to improve people's general health.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, earlier stated that the new centre would help conventional medicine boost its evidence basis by leveraging the power of science. He also expressed gratitude to the Indian government for its support, stating that they look forward to making it a success.