New Delhi, June 14: The World Health Organisation (WHO) has designated the National Institute of Indian Medical Heritage (NIIMH), Hyderabad, under the Ministry of Ayush as a WHO Collaborating Centre (CC) for traditional medicine research, it was announced on Friday.
NIIMH, Hyderabad is a unit under the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) which will now work as a WHO centre for ‘Fundamental and Literary Research in Traditional Medicine’. This recognition has been granted for a period of four years.
CCRAS-NIIMH, Hyderabad, joins the ranks as the third WHO Collaborating Centre in the domain of traditional medicine, followed by the Institute for Teaching & Research in Ayurveda, Jamnagar, and the Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga (MDNIY), New Delhi.
“This designation by WHO is a significant milestone, reflecting our relentless efforts in the field of traditional medicine and historical research,” said Professor Vaidya Rabinarayan Acharya, Director General of CCRAS, NIIMH and Head of the WHO Collaborating Centre.
Established in 1956, the institute has been a pioneer in various digital initiatives of Ayush, including the AMAR Portal, which catalogues 16,000 Ayush manuscripts, featuring 4,249 digitised manuscripts, 1,224 rare books, 14,126 catalogues, and 4,114 periodicals.
The Showcase of Ayurvedic Historical Imprints (SAHI) Portal showcases 793 medico-historical artefacts, while the e-books of Ayush project provide digital versions of classical textbooks. The NAMASTE Portal collects cumulative morbidity statistics from 168 hospitals, and the Ayush Research Portal indexes 42,818 published Ayush research articles.
In India, there are approximately 58 WHO Collaborating Centres spanning various disciplines of bio-medicine and allied sciences.
