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 In a move to ensure Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS) in public health system, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) will shortly come out with a draft for states to adopt IPHS over a period of time, said an official at a global conclave here on Monday.

Dr A Raghu, Deputy Director General (Ayush), Directorate General of Health Services, MoHFW, Govt. of India said in Ayush system also, there should be a public health standard by making availability of infrastructure like essential drugs and manpower.

"The final draft is ready which will be circulated to states for comments," said Raghu.

He was addressing a session on 'Ayurveda and Public Health' at the fifth Global Ayurveda Festival (GAF 2023).

Raghu said states will be encouraged to adopt IPHS within one year as there is a massive change required to be happened in terms of infrastructure, clinical governance and quality assurance on par with IPHS.

"The committee, jointly headed by the Health Ministry and Ayush Ministry, has decided to create integrated departments of Ayush system of medicine in All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) across the country. This will be a game changer since more specific collaborative research studies will be happening from these integrated departments," added Raghu.

"Ministry of Ayush has approved 12, 500 Ayush health and wellness centers and out of them, more than 8,000 have been made into functional status. With a holistic approach, there will be a herbal garden, yoga instructor and assessment of the community for the constitution of the persons," added Raghu.

"The Ministry has developed an Ayush grid, a comprehensive digital platform, for engaging with each and every aspect of Ayush, including human resources, research, medicinal plant sector, service delivery and patients' registration. The digital platform will be linked with all states and the UTs to facilitate easy communication," said Raghu.