The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has announced a partnership with the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences under the Ayush Ministry to establish an integrative health research centre at AIIMS. The goal of this collaboration is to combine the Ayush system with conventional bio-medicine and modern technology to provide integrative healthcare to improve patient outcomes. The ICMR and the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences will jointly fund the Ayush-ICMR Advanced Centre for Integrative Health Research (AI-ACIHR) at AIIMS, focusing on research in identified areas of integrative healthcare.
The Ayush-ICMR Advanced Centre for Integrative Research at AIIMS aims to foster a mutual understanding between different systems of medicine and identify knowledge gaps in order to conduct integrative research and generate robust evidence. The objective is also to develop management protocols for priority diseases based on both traditional and modern medicine approaches. The document emphasizes the need for an integrated healthcare regime that can inform future health policies and programs. India’s rich heritage of indigenous medical knowledge and strong infrastructure in contemporary medicine puts it in a favorable position to contribute to the global resurgence of interest in integrative health.
A Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) has been signed between the Ministry of Ayush and ICMR to promote high-impact research on integrative health. The aim is to generate evidence in priority areas using modern scientific methods. The establishment of the Ayush-ICMR Centres for Advanced Health Research at AIIMS will be done incrementally through joint efforts. These efforts will include conducting high-quality clinical trials on identified areas of national importance with promising integrative therapies to generate wider acceptance.