Ayurveda under threat from western exploitation: Expert

India could lose over $130 billion annually, if western countries were allowed to exploit and dilute ayurveda, one of the trusted age-old Indian medicine system, experts say.

Expressing this apprehension, the British Ayurvedic Medical Council and the British Association of Accredited Ayurvedic Practitioners, headed by Indian doctors urged the country to take a firm and pro-active stand globally to protect Indian Intellectual Property Rights.

Dr Kothandaraman Ganesh, Director of Ayurvedic Company of Great Britain India Ltd, told UNI in Chennai that unrestricted exploitation of the ayurvedic system by western countries would result in the erosion of traditional knowledge and loss of IPRs.

Another related consequence might be the devaluation of qualifications of over 500,000 Indian ayurvedic doctors, affecting their employment opportunities abroad, he warned.

Urging the Centre to initiate steps to protect Indian IPRs, Dr Ganesh suggested that the country could set up a global ''Ayurveda Watch'' to monitor and pre-empt infringements anywhere in the world.

While the Centre should take legal action to prevent malpractices and extend support to organisations like the BAMC, universities in India should stop issuing certificate courses in ayurveda, he suggested.

To enhance public awareness on the issue, the BAMC was organising a conference in London on January 17. The Maharaja of Mysore, Vice Chancellors of Manipal and Pune Universities, ayurvedic practitioners and distinguished ayurvedic scholars were expected to attend the conference, he added.

The French government insisted that no sparkling wine was called champagne if it was not produced in the Louvre Valley. Similarly, the Indian and other Asian countries should also stand up to the west to protect their knowledge and rights, Dr Ganesh said. He charged the west with plundering raw materials and resources from the east.

''They try to grasp whatever they can of India and Asia's spiritual and esoteric knowledge. After becoming ‘experts' on the subjects within a couple of weeks, they write books and give lectures and even set up diploma courses,'' Dr Ganesh said.

''It is plagiarism at its worst and also illegal copying of intellectual property in its most subtle and vicious form and deprives India of considerable amount of annual income,'' he added.

Dr Ganesh said while the pilferage of neem and other ayurvedic remedies by the western pharmaceutical industry was simply a dishonest appropriation of intellectual property, the offering of therapies like ‘Shirodhara' by western therapists posed a major danger to the public in west.

The western governments, while creating barriers in the sale of genuine ayurvedic products have ironically allowed proliferation of under-qualified western ayurvedic practitioners.

These doctors were allowed to practice ayurveda after a mere two-week training when genuine qualification required five to six years of rigorous training, Dr Ganesh pointed out.

Dr B M Hegde, Vice Chancellor of Manipal University and Justice V R Krishna Iyer, former Supreme Court judge and internationally renowned expert on IPR and Human rights and others would address the conference in London, he added.

UNI