New Delhi, Nov 15 (IANS) The Ministry of Labour and Employment on Friday announced to provide the beneficiaries of the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) with both allopathic and ayurveda, yoga, unani, siddha, and homoeopathy (Ayush) methods of treatment to pave the way for more holistic healthcare.

At the 20th meeting of the Sub-Committee held at ESIC Headquarters, the Ministry emphasised that Ayush systems of medicine are gaining popularity all over the world.

"The Ayush systems can contribute significantly to the holistic health of ESI beneficiaries," Labour and Employment Secretary and Chairperson of the Sub-Committee on Ayurveda Sumita Dawra told the meeting.

The meeting also focussed on the implementation of the new ESI policy on Ayush- 2023, which was approved in the 193rd meeting of ESI Corporation in October.

Dawra also directed "for a speedy, seamless and meaningful implementation of the policy in the best interests of ESI beneficiaries".

"It is imperative to foster the growth of traditional systems of medicine and enhance collaboration between Ayush systems and allopathy," she said.

"The focus should be on providing a more cohesive and holistic approach to healthcare of IPs and their families," she added.

The ESI policy on Ayush–2023 provides norms for the establishment of AYUSH OPD services in ESIS/ESIC.

Unlike previous policies, the new policy calls for running Ayush OPD services through regular full-time staff in due course of time, "increasing the level of commitment of the staff and the quality of care".

It also provides the facility of providing “indoor ayurveda treatment by housing 50-bed AYUSH hospitals within 500-bed allopathic hospitals".

In addition to OPD services, the facilities will provide treatments to "patients under five specialities, that is kaya chikitsa (general medicine), panchakarma (bio purificatory medicine), shalya (surgery), shalakya (ophthalmology and ENT) and Prasuti and Stri Roga (obstetrics and gynaecology)".

The treatments will be made under the supervision of ayurveda physicians with required post-graduate qualifications. This would immensely enhance the quality of care being provided to the ESI beneficiaries. The new policy also mandates yoga therapy units to be run by therapists who have higher levels of qualifications and experience.

The ESI Corporation provides medical care services both through modern medicine and AYUSH systems of medicine. Currently, ESI is running a total of 406 AYUSH units at various locations throughout the country. These comprise 185 ayurveda units, 91 homeopathy units, 67 yoga units, 52 siddha units, and 11 unani units. An aggregate of 26,68,816 patients attended these units in the course of the year 2023-24, the Ministry said.

--IANS

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