Conclave on ‘Cancer Care and Research in AYUSH’ begins

KOCHI: Aiming to develop an integrative approach and treatment guidelines for the management of cancer, Amrita School of Ayurveda’s  first ever three-day conclave on ‘Cancer Care and Research in AYUSH: Development of a Roadmap’ got under way at the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi, on Friday.

The conclave will aim to draft a strategy for the development of integrative oncology in the Indian context through structured deliberations for well-defined endpoints delving on such themes such as developing drugs and products, evolving integrative approaches and treatment modalities in AYUSH.

Speaking at the inauguration, Sankara Chaitanya, Medical Director, Amrita School of Ayurveda, said the first move towards organising a systematic dialogue and continuous deliberations between practitioners of AYUSH systems and conventional medicine will prove to be a major outcome-oriented step in this direction. “There is a strong consensus already that primary and secondary prevention, pain and palliative care, as well as supportive care during chemotherapy and radiation, are some areas where Ayurveda systems can make substantial contributions,” said Sankara.

P Ram Manohar, research director, Amrita Centre for Advanced Research in Ayurveda, Amrita School of Ayurveda, said Ayurveda is the most commonly used complementary alternative medicine (CAM) in India by cancer patients as a stand-alone or add-on to conventional cancer care.