Ayurswasthya Yojana: New Scheme To Popularise Ayush Treatments Of Various Diseases

Get to know about Ayurswasthya Yojana and various other initiatives taken by the government to promote Ayush systems of medicine.

The government of India has taken various policy initiatives to promote Ayush systems of medicine. The latest is the Ayurswasthya Yojana, a new umbrella scheme that has been developed to roll out authentic classical Ayush interventions for promoting community health care and to provide support for establishment of Ayush medical health unit in reputed Ayush and allopathy institutions, Minister of State for Ayush, Mahendrabhai Munjapara, informed the Parliament on Tuesday.

In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, the Minister also stated that various other initiatives have been taken to promote Indian Traditional System of Medicine including the launch of National Ayush Mission (NAM) to envisage better access to Ayush services through increase in the number of Ayush Hospitals and dispensaries, and inclusion of Ayush in National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardio-vascular diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS).

In addition, he said that the government has -

• Operationalised 12,500 Ayush health and wellness centres under Ayushman Bharat and introduced insurance coverage for Ayush treatments.
• Developed Champion Services Sector Scheme for medical value travel to enhance medical tourism in the field of Ayush and to provide support establishing world class, state of the art Ayush hospitals.
• Set up a National Medical and Wellness Tourism Board to boost medical, wellness, and yoga and ayurveda tourism, with an aim to position India as a destination for health and wellness tourism through the Ayush system.

The Ayush Ministry is also disseminating the merits of Ayush systems through media platforms as well as undertaking various initiatives for international promotion, propagation, and global acceptability of Ayush systems of medicine, under its Central sector scheme for promotion of international cooperation, Munjapara added.

National AYUSH Mission (NAM)

The department of AYUSH, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, launched National AYUSH Mission (NAM) on 15 September 2014. The objectives of the mission include providing cost-effective AYUSH services, strengthening institutional capacity at the state level and facilitating the enforcement of quality control of Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani & Homoeopathy (ASU &H) drugs and sustainable availability of ASU & H raw materials.

Early this month, the Union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the continuation of National AYUSH Mission (NAM) as a centrally sponsored scheme effective 1 April to 31 March 2026 with an expenditure of 4,607.3 crore.

The government announced that the Centre's share in the scheme would be 3,000 crore, while 1,607.3 crore will be state share.

AYUSH for Prevention and Control Non-Communicable Diseases

In order to prevent and control major Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD)s, India launched the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS) in 2010 with focus on strengthening infrastructure, human resource development, health promotion, early diagnosis, management and referral. Under this programme, NCD Cells are being established at national, state and district levels for programme management, and NCD Clinics are being set up at district and CHC levels, to provide services for early diagnosis, treatment and follow-up for common non-communicable diseases.

The AYUSH Ministry has been running projects to integrate Ayurveda, Homeopathy and Unani with the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS) with an aim to reduce the burden of NCDs by combining the strength of Ayurveda and Yoga.

With inputs from agencies