Every year since 2016, Ayurveda Day is observed on the occasion of Dhanwantri Jayanti, the birth anniversary of the Lord Dhanwantri which occurs on Dhanteras. Lord Dhanwantri is believed to be the God of Ayurveda who bestowed the knowledge of Ayurveda to mankind. This year, the 6th Ayurveda Day 2021 was celebrated on November 2, 2021, to promote the Ayurvedic principles of wellness and healing and also spread awareness on the importance of Ayurveda in our daily lives.
In line with the theme for this year’s Ayurveda Day celebrations, “Ayurveda for Poshan”, the Embassy of India in Phnom Penh organized a webinar on the theme “Ayurveda – Its concept of Food and Nutrition” on 3rd November 2021 with the participation of about 50 participants from Cambodia and India. Dr. Manoj Nesari, Advisor (Ayush), Ministry of Ayush, Government of India delivered welcome remarks and explained to the participants about Ayurveda and its benefits, similarities between Ayurveda and other Indian systems of traditional medicine, and Cambodia’s traditional medicine. He also explained about the efforts of both Governments to enter into a MoU for co-operation in the field of traditional medicine. Subject experts from various well-known Ayurveda Educational and Research Institutions from India gave presentations on the following topics:
- Origin and Development of Ayurveda (Herbal Medicine) – Its connection with Cambodian Traditional Medicine
- Ayurvedic Education, Training and Development
- Ayurveda – An Immunity Booster
- Ayurveda for Kidney-Liver Disorders
- Ayurveda for Cardiovascular Diseases
A Question & Answer Session followed the presentations and the subject experts answered the queries posed by various participants on Ayurveda and other related aspects.
H.E. Dr. Devyani Khobragade delivered the closing remarks. In her remarks, while explaining the current state of cooperation between India and Cambodia in the field of Traditional Medicine, she stated that around 40% of the Cambodian population uses traditional medicine, which is similar to Indian systems of traditional medicine, and encouraged Indian companies to collaborate with the Cambodian companies to promote traditional medicine in both countries. In the event, the Royal Government of Cambodia was represented by Dr. Theang Huot from the National Centre for Traditional Medicine (NCTM).
The traditional medicine market is estimated to be around USD 18 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach USD 23.3 billion mark in 2022. Given the wider acceptability of alternate systems of medicine, more especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, the traditional medicine market is growing at an extraordinary pace creating excellent opportunities for enhancing trade and investment between India and Cambodia in addition to forging collaborations between Indian and Cambodian educational and research institutes working in the field of traditional medicine.
Source: India in Cambodia (Embassy of India, Phnom Penh)
