Lok Sabha Question No. 3611 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-21
Subject: Health Awareness among Citizens
Ministry: AYUSH
Asked by: Shri Darshan Singh Choudhary

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AYUSH

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3611 TO BE ANSWERED ON 21.03.2025

## Health Awareness among Citizens

†3611. Shri Darshan Singh Choudhary:

Will the Minister of AYUSH be pleased to state:

(a) whether any campaign is being run by the Government for health awareness among citizens in rural areas of the country;

(b) if so, the details thereof; and

(c) the efforts made to combine the use of ancient medicines and knowledge of Ayurveda which was prevalent in the forest areas of the country including Panchmarhi with modern medicine?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF AYUSH (SHRI PRATAPRAO JADHAV)

(a) &  (b)  Ministry  of  Ayush  is  implementing  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  of  National  Ayush Mission(NAM)  through  State/UT  Governments  and  supporting  their  efforts  for  carrying  out  the campaign  for  health  awareness  among  the  citizens  in  the  country  including  rural  areas  through Behaviour  Change  Communication  (BCC)/Information,  Education,  and  Communication  (IEC)  by involving mass media communication strategy incorporating Ayush strengths in early prevention of diseases through promotion of healthy diet and lifestyle to be adopted by the community.

Further, Ministry of Ayush is also implementing a Central Sector Scheme namely Promotion of Information  Education  and  Communication (IEC) in  Ayush  with  an  objective  to  create  awareness amongst  the  citizens  about  the  efficacy  of  the  Ayush  Systems,  their  cost  effectiveness  and  the availability  of  Ayurveda,  Siddha,  Unani  and  Homeopathy  (ASU&H)  drugs  services  and  other solutions  by  utilizing  various  communication  channels  for  this  purpose,  and  produce  IEC  material including digital and audio-video publicity material to achieve the objective of health for all.

(c)    Government of India has adopted a strategy of Co-location of Ayush facilities at Primary Health Centres (PHCs), Community Health Centres (CHCs) and District Hospitals (DHs), thus enabling the choice to the patients for different systems of medicines under a single window. The engagement of Ayush doctors/ paramedics and their training is supported by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare under National Health Mission (NHM), while the support for Ayush infrastructure, equipment/ furniture and medicines are provided by the Ministry of Ayush under National Ayush Mission (NAM) as shared responsibilities.

Further,  Central  Council  for  Research  in  Ayurvedic  Sciences  (CCRAS)  an  autonomous organization  of  Ministry  of  Ayush,  actively  involved  in  collecting  and  documenting  the traditional practices and herbal formulations by the following 02 programs viz.

I. Medico Ethno-Botanical Survey (MEBS) II.Tribal Health Care Research programme (THCRP)

Through  these  programs  Local  Health  Traditions  (LHT)/Folklore  practices  among  Tribal Population have been documented. After documentation, Local Health Traditions (LHT)/Folklore  practices  are  identified  and  validated  for  their  uniqueness  and  graded  and prioritized based on value of the leads and expected translational potential, through structured format and systemic approach.

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