(Image source from: Yogaofsausalito.com)
Ayurveda products, a system of medicine with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent, is increasing in popularity and a recent report unveiled at the Global Ayurveda Summit in Kochi has made it definite.
The report found that 77 percent of Indian households used Ayurvedic products in 2010, which has increased from 69 percent of households in 2015.
The rise of Ayurveda is being fueled by growing prominence on the importance of healthy lifestyles, suggested the report prepared by Powerwaterhouse Coopers (PwC) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
This is against the backdrop of India's rising rates of Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs), which the report credits with encouraging more and more people to look after their health. To this extremity, umpteen Indians are turning to Ayurveda and some other alternative medicine systems and treatments, such as Unani, naturopathy, Siddha, and homoeopathy.
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The conference publicized further good news for ayurveda on the global scale. The industry is anticipated to virtually triple in size in the approaching years. By 2022, the market will reach US$9.7 billion in size. This is compared to US$3.4 billion in 2015.
Speaking at the event, Governor of Kerala P Sathasivam welcomed the news. He spoke positively of the Centre "[giving] priority to mainstreaming indigenous medicine systems" in the 2017 National Health Policy. He credited this with giving "a policy boost" to "Indian medicine systems, such as Ayurveda." The state was identified in the report as being well-positioned to lead the growth of Ayurveda in the coming years.
To build on the industry's growth in India, PwC and the CII encouraged the use of technology by the ayurvedic industry to satisfy demand. It also said that quality control standards need to be enforced if Ayurveda is to be successfully launched at the international level.
The Centre has been acute to advance traditional systems of medicine in recent years. It established the Union Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga, and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) in 2014.
The Modi government has been keen to promote AYUSH both at home and abroad, constructing state-of-the-art homeopathic laboratories and setting the industry at international conferences.
This is fueling growing uptake of AYUSH. Not only do 77 percent of households use Ayurveda, but there has also been a fifty percent increase in patients seeking homeopathic treatment in the past five years.
AYUSH's increased popularity is being observed not only among Indians but also among international visitors. Some analysts have credited AYUSH with driving - at least in part - the rapid growth of India's medical tourism industry.
-Sowmya Sangam
