VIJAYAWADA: Asserting the government’s commitment to reviving ancient Indian medicine systems, Health Minister Y Satya Kumar Yadav announced that Andhra Pradesh is being transformed into a major hub for AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, Naturopathy, and Homoeopathy).
The government has launched developmental works with a total outlay of Rs 414 crore to scale up medical infrastructure, reversing years of neglect under the previous regime.
Speaking as the chief guest at a state conference on the ‘Sustainable Cultivation of Medicinal Plants, Economic Growth, and Marketing Infrastructure’ held at the Tummalapalli Kshetrayya Kalakshetram on Wednesday, he emphasised a paradigm shift in the State’s healthcare policy, moving away from a traditional reactive-curative approach toward a predictive-preventive and wellness-centric model.
As part of this massive infrastructure drive, the government is setting up four new AYUSH medical colleges with an investment of Rs 280 crore, allotting Rs 70 crore for each institution. Under this initiative, Ayurveda medical colleges are coming up at Dharmavaram and Pithapuram, a Unani college is designated for Proddatur, and construction of a Naturopathy medical college in Vizag is nearing completion.
The government has allocated Rs 90 crore to establish integrated AYUSH hospitals at Tirupati, Giddalur, Nandigama, Tenali, Tekkali and Rampachodavaram, while Rs 44-crore modernisation of over 1,500 AYUSH dispensaries is nearing completion.
The Minister said the Union AYUSH Minister would soon inaugurate the projects along with Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan.
He said healthcare reforms had increased outpatient footfall at government hospitals by 20%, highlighting 255 open-heart surgeries performed at Guntur Government General Hospital and the expansion of MBBS seats. Health Secretary G Veerapandian said medicinal plant cultivation currently covers 30,000-35,000 acres, with plans to expand it to lakhs of acres through coordination with the Forest Department, advanced testing laboratories and stronger market linkages.