Pre clinical and clinical research imperative for Siddha medicines
Chennai | Tuesday, Nov 3 2009 IST
 

Pre-clinical and clinical research is the need of the hour to revalidate the efficacy and safety of Siddha system of Indian medicine, said Mr S Gandhiselvan, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare.

Inaugurating a national workshop on the subject at Sri Ramachandra University (SRU) here, he said social acceptance of siddha medicines was not very encouraging because medicinal compounds were being churned out by practioners without subjecting them to established protocols. The collaboration between SRU and two Government of India organizations, National Institute of Siddha and Central Research Institute Siddha, was a fine example of private public partnership, he added. Speaking on the occasion, Mr B Anand, Joint Secretary in the union ministry of Ayush said there was a crisis of credibility on the efficacy and safety of Siddha because of criticism from Western countries it contains metallic and other toxic contents beyond the limits prescribed by World Health Organisation(WHO). "We need path breaking research on modern scientific methods to prove the efficacy and safety of siddha medicines," he said. He also suggested integration between traditional Indian systems and modern systems of medicine even at the academic level. In his address, Mr G A Raj Kumar, Principal Secretary and Director, Department of Indian Medicine and Homeopathy, Tamil Nadu said the two- day national workshop should deliberate on the many issues concerning siddha medicine and come out with clear cut recommendations. Dr S Thanikachalam, Chairman and Director, Cardiac Care Centre, SRU said eventhough the government had given tremendous importance and greater fillip to these AYUSH systems of medicine, still the involvement of siddha professionals as well as their acceptance of the need for well structured basic clinical research based on guidelines by ICMR as well as US-FDA is not adequate. As a follow up of the workshop the National Institute of Siddha, Central Research Institute Siddha and SRU will combine in doing pre-clinical and clinical research in siddha medicines which have been in use in Tamilnadu for centuries, he added.

-- (UNI) -- 03MS56.xml

 

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