Himachal Government has launched a programme for the promotion and conservation of the herbal wealth by setting up herbal gardens in the different agro-climatic zones.
At present, four herbal gardens have been established in the different agro climatic zones in the state which includes herbal garden at Jogindernagar, Neri (Hamirpur), Dhumrera (Rohru) in Shimla district and Jungal Thalera in Bilaspur district, said a spokesman of Himachal Government on Sunday.
He said that Himachal Government has accorded top priority to the health sector and special emphasis is being given to develop health infrastructure besides expansion of qualitative health services in the State.
Endowed with enormous herbal wealth, the Himachal Government is committed to exploiting the traditional Indian medicinal assets and is also taking necessary measures to conserve and promote the same. To add new dimension to the Indian system of medicine, the State government has given added priority to strengthen the Ayurveda infrastructure in the State, since Indian system of Medicine and Homoeopathy have played a vital role in the Health care system since ancient times, said he.
The department of Ayurveda has one drug testing laboratory at Jogindernagar in Mandi district along with three departmental Ayurvedic Pharmacies at Majra in Sirmour, Jogindernagar in Mandi and Paprola in Kangra district. As of today, 31 Ayurvedic Hospitals, 1,113 Ayurvedic Health Centers, 14 HHC, 3 UHC, 4 Amchi Health Centers are working in the State.
He said that a sum of Rs 218 crore is being spent on Ayurveda during this financial year. In the year 2014 about 52 lakhs people were treated effectively and upto September 2015 nearly 22, 64,251 patients were treated by the Ayurveda department.
The State Government through the department of Ayurveda is also providing the specialise services through 17 Panchkarma and 9 Kasharsutra units which are established in different hospitals. Specialities of Ayurveda like Panchkarma, Ksharsutra, and therapeutic Yoga etc. are being provided in some Ayurvedic Hospitals working under the department, said the spokesman.
Trained Para-medical staff has been deployed in various Ayurvedic hospitals. Besides this department has also been organising free medical check up/treatment camps in the different parts of the State and health awareness campaigns has also been started, he added.
Also, as a step towards strengthening the Ayurveda system, the State Government has increased admission strength of Bachelor of Ayurveda, Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) from 50 to 60 at Rajiv Gandhi Government Post-Graduate, Ayurvedic College, Paprola.
The State Government is also focused towards the strengthening of the health services in tribal and remote areas through multi speciality camps, added the spokesman.