Staff Reporter / Kolkata
The All India Unani Tibbi Congress (West Bengal) on Monday organised UNICON-45, a conference on “The Position of Unani Medicine in AYUSH”, at the auditorium of the Urdu Academy, West Bengal. The event was presided over by Dr Shyam Sunder Kundu.
In his presidential address, Dr Kundu said that Unani medicine is increasingly being viewed with appreciation and hope both in India and abroad. He welcomed the recent historic agreement between India’s Ministry of AYUSH and Afghanistan’s Ministry of Health to establish a Unani Medical Research Centre in Afghanistan and to begin a new chapter in Unani education there. He termed the initiative commendable and encouraging. However, he expressed concern that Unani medicine continues to face official neglect in several Indian states, including West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Assam and Gujarat, where its presence has either declined to zero or is close to disappearing. He urged state governments to ensure its sustained promotion and development.
Delivering the welcome address, Dr Syed Ahmad Khan, Secretary General of the Congress, said the attitude of some state governments was deeply disappointing. He pointed out that Unani doctors are yet to be registered in Assam, and no fresh appointments have been made in West Bengal since 1998. At present, the state has only three government Unani dispensaries, whereas there should be over 30. While praising the state government’s development in other sectors, he demanded appointments of Unani doctors on par with Ayurveda and Homeopathy.
Professor Mohammad Ayub Qasmi said no system could grow without government patronage, adding that the Calcutta Unani Medical College was barely surviving and no new Unani dispensary had been opened since 1996.
Chief guest Dr Sikandar Hayat Siddiqui, former Director (Unani), Uttar Pradesh, called upon practitioners to serve the system with sincerity. TMC leader Sheikh Mohammad Ayazal Haq assured that a government Unani medical college would be established and demands would be placed before Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Dr Rahmatullah Rahmani, CMO (Unani), CGHS, said there are only 12 CGHS Unani dispensaries across India and demanded at least one in every state capital. Delegates from several states attended the conference. Dr Mujib Rahman proposed the vote of thanks.