Dubai, Nov 10 (UNI) Practitioners of traditional medicine systems in India are welcome to offer their services in the United Arab Emirates, the Emirate's Minister of State for Tolerance Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan has said.

"Ancient Indian practices recognise the uniqueness of every individual and treat them accordingly...

There is a need for ancient Indian medicinal practices in the country, and the UAE welcomes this ancient principle to be combined with conventional medicine to provide patients in the UAE with holistic wellbeing, " Al Nahyan said at the AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) conference here.

Top officials of the healthcare industry in India and the UAE, including AYUSH Minister Shripad Yesso Naik are attending the conference.

"We aim to strengthen the presence of Ayush in UAE. Our objective is to promote best practices of traditional medicine and exchange of information and expertise amongst each other,"Naik said.

"Traditional healthcare practices are deeply imbibed in our culture, and the dependence of traditional medicine is very high. I believe that it can be meaningfully harnessed for prevention and control of non-communicable diseases," he said.

The conference is one of the first initiatives being undertaken by the Ayush ministry to spread ancient traditional Indian systems of medicine in the region.Naik said the Indian government will award 100 Emirati, and UAE-based non-Indian students full-scholarships if they wish to study Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy in universities across India.

The ministry is also in talks with the UAE Ministry of Health to set up an Ayush chair in Dubai.

UNI XC-SRJ 1731