India to strengthen traditional medicine links with Africa

India will introduce measures to strengthen links with the traditional medicine forms of Africa, including scholarships and training to students from South Africa to study traditional Indian medicine, a senior official has said.

India will introduce measures to strengthen links with the traditional medicine forms of Africa, including scholarships and training to students from South Africa to study traditional Indian medicine, a senior official has said.

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Joint Advisor in the Department of AYUSH, Manoj Nesari, said India was keen to help South Africa develop policies and initiate measures to strengthen its traditional medicine.

Nesari, along with Joint Secretary of the Department, Sanjaykumar Panda, was addressing delegates at the inaugural national conference of The Ayurveda Foundation of South Africa (TAFSA) attended by 70 delegates from across Africa and India.

"We are providing funding for 50 scholarships through the Indian Council for Cultural Relations for South African students to study at Indian institutions to graduate in any of the disciplines that make up part of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddhi and Homeopathy)," Nesari said. He said funding would also be made available for post-graduate studies.

"The Department is also interested in holding seminars and conferences for educating not only the practitioners, but also other people in South Africa regarding the use of traditional medicines and the efficacy and advantages of alternative medicine," he told the delegates.

Nesari said another programme being considered is for Indian academics from Ayurvedic institutes in India to come to South Africa to train African traditional healers Johannesburg.