JAMMU: The Directorate of AYUSH today celebrated the 5th National Naturopathy Day at Government Ayurvedic Hospital, Jammu.
The hospital organized a one-day seminar with “Naturopathy and integrative medicine” as the event’s theme.
Secretary Health and Medical Education (H&ME), Bhupinder Kumar, was the chief guest while Additional Commissioner State Taxes, Ankita Kar, was the guest of honor on the occasion.
In his address to the Ayush fraternity, Secretary congratulated the entire Ayush fraternity on the 5th National Naturopathy Day and urged upon them to become an enthusiastic advocates of Ayush systems of health care so that a mass movement of Ayush health services can be initiated across the UT. He also emphasized that these wellness interventions being drugless must be integrated with conventional care as NCDs like Diabetes, Cancer, Metabolic Disorders which are emerging as global challenges. Naturopathy being a lifestyle-oriented health and wellness approach can go a long way in the prevention of the public health threat of NCDs in a cost-effective manner.
Secretary also inaugurated the Nature Cure exhibition organized by the Government Ayurvedic Hospital in presence of Ankita Kar and Director Ayush J&K. He visited the stalls displaying various therapeutic modalities of Naturopathy like dietotherapy, magneto therapy, heliotherapy, mud therapy, hydrotherapy, Accupressure, Accupuncture, IEC and Bcc Material on Naturopathy.
Secretary unveiled the official logo of the Directorate of Ayush, J&K, the new iconic identity of the department. He also felicitated the 10 best Ayush health and wellness centers, one from each district of Jammu division for their commendable efforts in the implementation of components of the National Ayush Mission in the Ayush Health and Wellness centers.
Later, Secretary also visited Government Ayurvedic Hospital and inspected the working of different wards there. He interacted with the patients and enquired about the quality of services being provided to them in the hospital. He was briefed about specialty treatments of Ayurveda like Panchkarma, Ksharsutra, Yoga and Naturopathy, Shalakya, Ayurvedic mother and child healthcare. He appreciated Government Ayurvedic Hospital for maintaining proper cleanliness and service delivery to the patients.
Ankita Kar appreciated the hard work of the Ayush team in organizing this exhibition. She emphasized that Ayush must focus on the establishment of Wellness centers in Public Private Partnership, startups, and Ayush entrepreneurship in the wellness sector for monetizing the wellness model of Ayush as there is an emerging demand for wellness interventions in the market and tourism industry. She also emphasized that Ayush must brand its wellness services to create mass awareness.
Director AYUSH J&K, Dr Mohan Singh, briefed the Secretary about various achievements of the Directorate in the promotion and propagation of the Ayush system of healthcare for holistic care and total health in the community. He also highlighted the history of naturopathy and the potential of Naturopathy in the UT of J&K.
Dr Singh also presented a video documentary “Ayush Utkarsh- Growth Story of Ayush in J&K” depicting various components of Ayush service delivery.
Dr. Arun Gupta, Medical Officer Ayush, presented the keynote address on Naturopathy and its relevance in today’s health scenario.
The program was attended by people from all walks of life, Ayush fraternity comprising medical officers, paramedics, retired veterans of the Ayush Department, and the general public.
