The renewal of Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the hea= lth sector during the visit of Prime Minister of Hungary t

SPEECH OF HON’BLE MINISTER OF= STATE FOR HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE FOR INAUGURATION OF AYURVEDA CONFERENCE AT BUDAPEST ON 29.9.2= 007

= Excellency, the senior State Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Government of Republi= c of Hungary, Mr. Ranjit Rae, Ambassador of India to Hungary, distinguished delegates from Hungar= y, other countries of Europe and India, ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of Government of India, I heartily welcome you all to the International Confer= ence cum Exhibition on Ayurveda at Budapest today. I thank the senior State Secretary= and other senior officials from Hungarian Health Ministry and Dr. Istvan Riesz = of Hungarian Ayurveda Foundation for providing their patronage and support to = the propagation of Ayurveda in Hungary. I also thank Indian Ambassad= or in Hungary, Shri Ranjit Rae and his colleague= s for organizing this first ever Ayurveda Conference in Europe at Budapest.

&= nbsp; The distinguishing feature of Ayurveda is that it is a holistic system of medic= ine which has great potential for treatment of life style related and chronic disease conditions and promoting global well being. The Government of India has been providing constant support to the development of Ayurveda as a holistic and scientific system of medicine since 1947.&= nbsp; We have a full fledged Department of Government and a National polic= y in place for supporting the growth and development of Ayurveda and other syste= ms of traditional medicine. Ther= e are National Institutes and Universities of Ayurveda in = India and there is a Central Council for Research in Ayurveda & Siddha in addition to more than 200 colleges imparting Undergraduate and Postgraduate education in Ayurveda. Recently, Government of India has launched a Golden Triangle Project to bring convergence and synergy between traditional medicine, modern medicine and modern sciences for scientific validation of traditional medicine and development of R&D based drugs f= or chronic diseases of National and international importance. Production of drugs of Ayurveda and other systems of traditional medicine is strictly regulated as per the provisions of Drugs and Cosmetics Act and Good Manufacturing Practices Certification have been enforced for all manufacturing units.

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, India and Hungary share quite a long tradition of friendly relations. Our economic cooperation is rapidly expanding both in terms of trade= and investment. We are keenly loo= king forward to the visit of His Excellency the Prime Minister of Hungary to India early next year. The Health sector = has been identified as one of the key areas for mutual beneficial cooperation.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>

The renewal of Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation= in the health sector during the visit of Prime Minister of Hungary to India would provide the legal framework to further strengthen our cooperation. We also look forward to receiving = the Health Minister of Hungary in= India.

&= nbsp; I am aware of the great interest regarding Ayurveda in Hungary and the pionee= ring work done by the Hungarian Ayurveda Foundation in introducing Ayurveda prod= ucts to Hungarian people as long back as 1991. I also place on record our s= incere thanks to Dr. Paal Tamas and his colleagues of National Institute of Pharma= cy in showing great foresight in facilitating registration of Ayurveda product= s as para-medicine in Hun= gary. I understand that the Europe= an Union Directive takes cognizance of market authorization granted to traditi= onal systems of medicine before coming into force of the Directive in October, 2= 005 and infact this can become a precedent for market authorization elsewhere i= n Europe. I would urge Health Ministry of Hungary to give proper legal status to Ayurve= da in Hungary. We would appreciate if it co= uld be given status similar to that of Homoeopathy. In my delegation exper= ts of Ayurveda, Pharmaceutical Sciences and Regulators are attending the Conferen= ce and I hope that there will be meaningful dialogue between them and the authorities of National Institute of Pharmacy and National Institute of Food & Nutrition on facilitation of marketing of Ayurveda drugs in Hungary.

= I understand that the Unive= rsity of Debrecen is inte= rested in introducing a course on Ayurveda. India would be very happy to provide technical assistance in this endeavour. G= ujarat Ayurveda University, Jamnagar, India conducts Ayurveda degree courses for foreign students. Students from Hungary and other neighbouring countries can enroll in these courses either as sponsored candidates from Indian Council for Cultural Relations or on their= own self-financing basis. W= e are also thinking of providing fellowship to foreign students to study Ayurveda= in India and would be looking forward to stud= ents from Hungary and other countries enrolling in Ayurveda courses in India. We have been sending experts to co= nduct CME courses on Ayurveda in various Medical Schools in USA and we would be very happ= y to provide Ayurveda experts for conducting such CME courses for Hungarian Medi= cal Schools. I would also w= elcome exchange of doctors and researchers between our two countries for joint research and development programmes. I am aware of some research in the field of health issues between All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi and the National Institute of Hematology & Immunology, Budapest. Similarly, there is some wor= k on anti-diabetic agents being undertaken by the scientists of National Chemical Laboratory, Pune and the = University of Debrecen. I would like to give a boost to su= ch cooperation under Health Cooperation Agreement as well.

&= nbsp; Apart from being a land of Ayurveda and Yoga, India is = also a major player in generics and has a huge capacity for production of generic drugs. Together with Ayurveda= & Yoga and our generic drugs, India can play an important role in bringing down the cost of health care in Hungary and other European countries. We look forward to joint ventures between Indian and Hungarian compa= nies and Indian and Hungarian education & research institutions in the above areas. India is a repository of huge biodiversity due to its varied climatic and soil conditions. India is one of the major exporter of medicinal plants and medicinal plants extracts to Europe and America. We are organizing a comprehe= nsive international health fair on Ayurveda, Yoga and other systems of traditional medicine at New Delhi from 26^th - 29^th October, 2007 = to showcase medicinal products and drugless therapies of Ayurveda and Yoga and other traditional systems of medicine and the research work that has been d= one in these traditional systems of medicine.&= nbsp; I invite all of you come to India to visit this Internati= onal Arogya exhibition and take part in it. I have great pleasure in inaugurating the first ever Ayurveda Conference-cum-Exhibition at Budapest today and= wish it a great success.