India Establishing Ayurveda Chairs at South African Universities

In response to growing interest, India will set up Ayurveda chairs at two South African universities by early next year.
"The chair in Ayurveda at the Durban University of Technology and one in Unani at the University of the Western Cape will help institutionalize training in this very important field," said Indian High Commissioner to South Africa Virendra Gupta at a recent Ayurveda Conference attended by delegates from both countries.
South African Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi is placing a priority on access to affordable healthcare, especially for rural communities. India's medical tradition, over 5,000 years old, is a natural solution.
Roy Padayachee, South African Minister of Communications and patron of the Ayurveda Foundation of South Africa, said his country's rigid regulatory systems have excluded traditional medical methods. He is eager to adapt India's experience to his country's circumstances. "We need to start establishing the infrastructure to support (Ayurveda), so this contribution of India to establish chairs is a very great contribution, because it signals the start of intellectual centers in our nation which will spiral and grow.
"Alongside that, we need to deal with the question of training and development, both in the academia and the professional services that we need to provide," the minister said. He urged South Africans to accept an offer of assistance from India.Secretary Department of Ayush Anil Kumar earlier indicated that there were scholarships available for South Africans to train in Ayurveda in India, but very few were taken up.
Kumar said that the health issues which were common to India and South Africa could result in the two countries jointly undertaking research and development in Ayurveda.
"We need to open our minds and see what other people are doing that could assist us as well," said Monwabisi Goqwana, Chairman of the Health Portfolio Committee in the South African Parliament, as he indicated support for co-operative efforts in Ayurveda and African Traditional Medicine.
Source:PTI