The National Institute of Indian Medical Heritage (NIIMH), based in Hyderabad and under the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) of the Ministry of Ayush, has achieved a significant milestone by being designated as a WHO-Collaborating Centre (CC) for “Fundamental and Literary Research in Traditional Medicine.” This prestigious recognition, granted for a four-year period starting from June 3, underscores NIIMH’s pivotal role in advancing traditional medicine research and documentation in India.
Established in 1956, NIIMH stands as a unique institution dedicated to the scholarly exploration of Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa-Rigpa, Homoeopathy, Biomedicine, and other related healthcare disciplines. Led by Vaidya Rabinarayan Acharya, Director General of CCRAS and Head of the WHO-CC at NIIMH, the institute has made substantial contributions to digital initiatives and medico-historical research.
The WHO certification, according to Professor Acharya, is evidence of NIIMH’s ongoing work in traditional medicine and historical study. Among the accomplishments of the institute are the Showcase of Ayurvedic Historical Imprints (SAHI) online, which showcases 793 medico-historical items, and the AYUSH Manuscripts Advanced Repository (AMAR) portal, which houses 16,000 manuscripts. In addition, NIIMH is in charge of the National Ayush Morbidity and Standardized Terminologies Electronic (NAMASTE) portal, which gathers morbidity information, and the e-Books of Ayush project, which offers digital access to traditional textbooks.
Together with a Medical Heritage Museum, the library of NIIMH conserves more than 500 physical manuscripts, enhancing its archive resources with rare publications from the fifteenth century. In order to promote scholarly discussion in traditional medicine, the institute also publishes the Journal of Indian Medical Heritage.
NIIMH, being the third WHO-CC for traditional medicine in India, will work with WHO to update the Traditional Medicine Module-II for the 11th edition of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) and standardize terminology for Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, and Sowa-Rigpa. The center will promote international attempts to incorporate traditional healthcare systems into mainstream medical practices by helping member governments establish research approaches for traditional medicine.
By positioning India as a center for enhancing global health through traditional healing methods, NIIMH’s WHO certification not only validates its leadership in traditional medicine research but also promotes worldwide collaboration and standardization in medical terminologies and research methodology.
SOURCE:
THE PRINT
