The Ayurveda Centre of Excellence (ACE) supported by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) Indian Traditional Sciences celebrated UN International Day of Yoga for the 11th consecutive year at the Houses of Commons on June 17 with a call to collaborate on preparing a White Paper on integrative healthcare as an essential contribution to the radical reform of the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK.
Integrative healthcare is expanding rapidly in the country due to the growing demand for a more people-centric approach to wellness and a deeper understanding that ill-health arises from various levels of our life and the relationships between the different systems of mental, physical and societal life both individually and collectively, the meeting hosted by Bob Blackman MP, noted.
Over a hundred people participated in the ‘Unity Within the Diversity’ of the international family of faiths in the British Parliament.
Dr. Manoj Nesari, Advisor to the Government of India at Ministry of AYUSH and Head of the International Cooperation of Ministry of AYUSH, who attended the meeting via zoom as special guest, said preparing a White Paper on integrative healthcare is a fundamental requirement to bring reforms in the NHS in the UK.
He described it as a major step taken by the ACE, which was launched in October 2024. According to him ACE is a major milestone for promoting Indian culture and ayurveda in the UK and may play a pivotal role in reshaping the NHS.
Combining faith aspects under the umbrella of integrative healthcare is especially important in the western community in the light of its insistence on double blind randomised clinical trials in studying the efficacy of a drug on intervention, he said adding that the topic of faith was appropriate for International Yoga Day as it promotes the conjoining of the soul with the spirit in our search for peace, security and happiness.
The Independent Report on the NHS in September 2024 prepared by Professor Lord Darzi for the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, had called on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to make ongoing financial support for the NHS conditional upon the immediate cost savings and greater efficiency advised in the report.
