Many native Ayurveda physicians die without revealing their secrets
Research shows that indigenous and Ayurveda medicine have existed in Sri Lanka for more than 30,000 years. Some 600-odd Ola leaf Ayurveda manuscripts are being currently translated into lucid (understandable, layman’s) language that will provide insights into cures and sickness of people.
“We have requested all Ayurvedic physicians to forward Ola manuscripts to us for either payments or for a reward,” said the Minister of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine Dr. Rajitha Senaratne addressing a media conference held at the Ramada Hotel Colombo on Monday in connection with the TradMed International Symposium on Traditional and Complementary Medicine, Educational Exhibition and Trade Fair. The event is to be held in Sri Lanka on November 23-25 at the Water’s Edge Hotel in Colombo.
He said long term plans are being drawn up to make Sri Lanka a hub for traditional, complementary and indigenous medicine in the world.
The Minister said that many countries such as Germany, Iran, Nepal, China and India still practice indigenous and traditional forms of medicine. Citing an example, he said traditional and indigenous medicine offers other forms of cure for bone fractures instead of undergoing surgery by western medicine surgeons.
“Our aim is to amalgamate all forms of medicine to find a cure for diseases that affect people.” Referring to traditional and indigenous medicine practised by Ayurvedic physicians in the country he said many die with their secrets of Ayurveda without revealing them to the country.
According to the Global Industry Analysts report, global herbal supplements and remedies market is forecast to reach US$115 billion by the year 2020, spurred by a growing aging population.
This project has been initiated by the Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine and the Department of Ayurveda in collaboration with the University of Sri Jayewardenepura and the World Health Organisation (WHO) to provide expertise, knowledge and skills on research interventions and inventions on these forms of medicine. The international symposium will be attended by over 30 eminent speakers from the US, UK, Australia, Singapore, Japan, China, India South Korea, Netherlands, Iran and Thailand with 48 lecture sessions to be conducted by local and international experts.
The researchers will be offered an opportunity to share their research findings through oral and poster presentation. Abstracts to be presented will be selected based on the scientific validity through peer review by a panel of internationally selected reviewers specialized in each subject. Approximately 120 original abstracts will be selected for oral presentation and 100 abstracts will be selected for poster presentation. This is the first time that the traditional medicine symposium proceedings will be published in an international journal.
The overall aim of the symposium is to share the expertise and novelties in evidence-based practices of traditional medical systems in disease prevention, diagnosis and management and use of modern science and technology, diagnostic tools, bio-medical information systems in traditional medicine in relation to the safe and effective product development with quality and standard. The issuance of the Colombo Declaration/Statement at the conclusion of the event will be another unique feature of the event. Prof. Ranil de Silva, Prof. Sampath Amaratunga, WHO’s Prof. Dr. Sepali Gunawardena and Commissioner of Ayurveda Mangala Karunathilaka also spoke.