Directorate of Indian System of Medicine (AYUSH), on Saturday organised a grand seminar to celebrate World Unani Day at SKICC here.

World Unani Day is a global event taking place every year on 11th of February which marks the birthday of great Unani scholar and social reformer “Hakim Ajmal Khan”. The main objective of the celebration is to pay tribute to the legendary Hakim Ajmal Khan for his wonderful contribution in sustained development of Unani system of medicine in the country and rest of the world.
Secretary Health and Medical Education, Dr Syed Abid Rasheed Shah, presided over the celebration.
While speaking on the occasion, the Secretary maintained that the Indian Systems of Medicine is an integral part of Health and Medical Education fraternity and finds a very important place in the scheme of things. He said that Unani is perceived as one of the most ancient and well documented system of medicine equally relevant in modern times. The holistic approach of this system, whether for healthy individuals or for diseased ones, remains unparalleled, he asserted.
Stressing on importance of integration between the mainstream and ISM, Dr Abid Rasheed said that there is no need of any comparison among the different systems as both are complimentary arms of the health structure.
He said that there is no need for any system to supplant other system but to work in a complimentary manner drawing on the strengths of our system based on rationale, regulations, drug efficacy. He said that it is critical that we have interdisciplinary training programmes with the mainstream medicine.
The Secretary appreciated the work done by Directorate of Ayush J&K and emphasised upon them to remain true to the ethics and engage in research and development so that people will have more faith. He said that a lot will depend upon the practitioners on how would they upheld the highest standards of ethics and indulge in research and evidence based practices to validate the safety and mechanism of action of Ayush therapy.
Dr Abid Rasheed said that Ayush Systems have a history of providing cure for thousands of years and the need of the hour is to augment modern research methodologies in Ayush so that an integrated approach is evolved for providing best health care facilities to the patients.
He emphasised on more capacity building programs for Ayush Medical and Para-Medical staff for better skill development. He stressed on need for further Research & Development programs in Ayush to make it popular across the globe.
Director AYUSH, while speaking on the occasion, informed that this day is celebrated with an attempt to further promote Unani into mainstream and focus on strengths of Unani and its unique treatment principles. He stressed on reducing the burden of disease and related morbidity and mortality by utilizing the potential of Unani and exploring the potential of Unani to contribute towards National health policy and National Health programmes.
He highlighted the transformative achievements of Ayush at primary, secondary and tertiary level. He informed that under Ayushman Bharat Scheme, 483 Standalone Government Ayush Dispensaries have been upgraded to Ayush Health & Wellness Centres. He further added that Directorate of Ayush, J&K was awarded for NABH Accreditation in favour of 5 Ayush Health and Wellness Centres
Principal GMC Srinagar, Professor Tanveer Masood, Director AYUSH, Dr Mohan Singh, Administrator Associated Hospitals Srinagar, Mohammad Ashraf Hakak, Deputy Director Ayush Jammu, Dr Suresh Kumar Sharma, Deputy Director Kashmir, Dr Nuzhat Bashir Shah, A Grade Specialist Dr Showket Hussain Yatoo, District Officers, Nodal Officers and others participated in the event.