Speech of Shri Shiv Basant, Joint Secretary,

Speech of Shri Shiv Ba= sant, Joint Secretary,

Department of AYUSH, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of India, =

in the Inaugural Sessi= on of International Ayurveda Conference in Budapest on

29^th Septem= ber, 2007

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&= nbsp; Hon’ble Minster of State for Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India, Mrs. Panaba= ka Lakshmi, His Excellency Secretary of State, Ministry of Health, Govt. of Hungary, His Excellency S= hri Ranjit Rae, Ambassador India in Hungary, and distinguished delegates from Hu= ngary, various other countries of Europe and India. It is my great pleasure to partici= pate in the First International Conference-cum-Exhibition on Ayurveda in Hungary, Budapest. As you may be aware Ayurveda= was introduced to Europe by the great work of Garcia da Orta on “The Drugs and Simples of India” who was a physician to the Portuguese Viceroy a= t Goa from 1554 onwards. The book was instantly popular in Europe and Spanish, Latin, It= alian and French translations soon emerged. Many of the Indian medicinal plants were adopted in Europe, but someh= ow the Ayurveda and Indian connections were lost. Much before National I= nstitute of Health, USA and the= World Health Organization took note of Ayurveda and other traditional medicinal systems, there has been resurgence of Ayurveda in Europe and Hungary= is at the forefront of this resurgence. &nb= sp; I offer my sincere compliments to Dr. Istaman Riesz of Hungarian Ayurveda Medical Foundation for his pioneering efforts in introducing Ayurv= eda as a holistic system of medicine and Ayurveda products to Hungarian people since 1991. Dr. Paal Ta= mas, Director General, National Institute of Pharmacy, is also a great patron of Ayurveda and it is a tribute to his foresight and his colleagues that Ayurv= eda products are registered as para-medicines in Hungary. Excellencies, Ladies & Gentlemen, we consider Hungary as a gateway to Europe for resurgence of Ayurveda. <= /p>

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I also offer my sincere compliments to his Excellency Shri Ranjit Rae, Ambass= ador of India in Hungary an= d his colleagues for organizing this first ever International Conference-cum-Exhibition on Ayurveda in Hungary. This Conference is a sense coming together of the best medical minds from Ind= ia, Hungary<= /st1:country-region> and other European countries. A galaxy of distinguished Ayruveda scientists, teachers and research= ers from India and their Hungarian and European counterparts will be exchanging notes on h= ow Ayurveda and modern medicines can be integrated for treatment of chronic diseases like Diabetes, Hypertension, Stress, Rheumatism, Paralysis and var= ious other diseases for global well being. = ; A session is also devoted to the role of Yoga in healthy living. I am pleased to announce that Directors of National Institutes of Ayurveda and Yoga are part of the Indian delegation and will be interacting with their counterparts in various Sessions. Prof. R= am Harsh Singh, Professor Emeritus, Banaras Hindu University, who is an Ayurveda legend will be the Chief Speaker.

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&= nbsp; Some of the Indian Ayurveda companies are also represented in this Conference an= d I am sure that this Conference-cum-Exhibition is an excellent opportunity for interaction and dialogue between their representatives and distinguished Experts of Hungarian Health Ministry like Dr. Tibor Vizkelety and Dr. Paal Tamas. I will be failing in m= y duty if I do not mention certain concerns of Indian Ayurvdic companies and their= partners in Hungary regarding the impact of European Union Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directives which has come into force from October, 2005. We have discussed this issue with officials of European Commission and there are provisions in THMPD which ta= ke cognizance of existing market authorization of traditional medicinal produc= ts like Ayurveda medicines registered as para-medicines in Hungary= . We have been given to unders= tand that these products need not be registered again and the evidence of regist= ration of these products in Hungary and other member States of European Union who have = joined European Union subsequent to the THMP Directive 2004 can be relied upon for registration of such products in other European member States.

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Some of the greatest medicine experts have always believed that food should be u= sed as medicine and medicine as food. &nb= sp; There is a very close link between medicinal products and food supplements. Ayur= veda is a holistic science of life and Ayurveda drugs have to be treated as medicines or health supplements. &nbs= p; We have had interactions with European Medicine Evaluation Agency and the team of European Commission Experts who visited = India in January, 2007 and th= ere is an understanding that large majority of Ayurveda products can be treated as Over The Counter Medicines, but there are 20 to 30% medicines which should = only be used as prescription drugs. Indian Ministry of Health, Department of AYUSH, AYUSH drug industry = look forward to working very closely with Hungarian Health authorities on this issue.

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&= nbsp; India is not only a land of Ayurveda but it is also one of the major exporter of generic modern medicine drugs.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> India has the largest number = of USFDA approved plants outside of US. = Indian Yoga and Ayurveda together with Indian generic drug industry = can play an important role in bringing down the cost of health care in Hungary= and other European countries. We in India= look forward to greater cooperation between Indian and Hungarian research institutions engaged in Yoga, Ayurveda and modern medicine and joint venture between Indiaian and Hungarian companies. India has also one of the lar= gest network of Homoeopathy practitioners and production of Homoeopathy medicines. We would lik= e to see Indian and Hungarian companies coming together for distribution of Ayurvedic and Homoeopathic medicines made in India, in Hungary and other European countries as well as joint ventures for production of Ayurveda and Homoeopathy medicines. &= nbsp;

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Excellencies, Ladies & Gentlemen, I wish the First International Conference-cum-Exhibition on Ayurveda in Budapest a great success. Thank = you.

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