7th International Congress of the Society for Ethnopharmacology (2020) kicks off at Jamia Hamdard

The 7th International Congress of the Society for Ethnopharmacology (2020) starts at Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi. This high level International Conference, is a mother of all meetings and perhaps the largest such gathering ever held in India witnessed the presence of more than 60 renowned speakers and about 1700 delegates from 43 countries and about 40 eminent Indian speakers and about 1700 delegates from India and abroad. The event is being supported by the Ministry of AYUSH and Department of Biotechnology among others.

Dr. Seyed Ehtesham Hasnain ,Vice-Chancellor garced the occasion by highlighting the evolution of Unani medicine. “The Unani medicine itself has been as a syncretic science. It is Important to recognise the value of the scientific approach of Unani- that is diagnostic, prognostic and holistic, with a stated syncretic developmental approach. All sciences grow by interacting with and assimilating from other knowledges, but most do not actively acknowledge this”, he was quoted saying. Former DBT Secretary Dr. Manju Sharma was also present and spoke on traditional medicines while Prof. Asim Ali Khan, Director General, Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine (CCRUM) stressed on the scientific validation of regional traditional medicines and their use in the world besides deliberating on their regulatory aspects.

The Congress will be held till February-17, 2020 and will focus on “Ethnopharmacology in development of scientifically validated quality products from medicinal plants and regulatory aspects” and highlight several crucial and contemporary issues of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy) related to Ethnomedicine, Ethnopharmacology and Medicinal Plant Research and the Regulation-related aspects.

This event is an earnest attempt to bring together eminent scientists, teachers, practitioners, researchers, manufacturers, traditional healers and students related to AYUSH, Traditional Medicine, Pharmacy and biological sciences from different corners of our country and abroad. The platform will also give an opportunity to India to showcase the potential of its AYUSH, medicinal plants at the global level.

The program will consist of about nine keynote speeches and above 70 Plenary lectures, more than 40 Short lectures and 40 Award lectures from young scientists. Moreover, nearly 100 oral presentations. More than 600 poster presentations will be made by young researchers, scholars and Post-Doc fellows from all across the World.

Exhibitions of various herbal medicine manufacturing companies with various AYUSH clinics showcasing the Indian System of Medicine, was also organized, which will be open for general public during all three days. Many traditional healers from Jharkhand, MP, Kerala and Tamilnadu have also participated. The key attractions of the event is the Health Mela where visitors can avail free consultation related to their health problems from renowned Ayurveda Vaidyas, Hakeem’s and other health experts representing the traditional medicinal systems.

The SFE – Herbal Industry Leader Award – 2020 was conferred upon K K Sharma, founder of AIMIL Pharmaceuticals (India) for his contribution in the field of herbal drugs as an industrialist, while the SFE Lifetime Achievement award was given to Dr Nitya Anand in recognition to his role in discovering, designing and development of herbal medicines. Former Secretary, DBT Secretary Dr. Manju Sharma was also present and spoke on traditional medicines.

“Traditional medicine knowledge often gets lost while passing through generations and preserving it could be the key to address the current medical challenges, The major objective of the event is globalisation of traditional knowledge on medicines and localization of international practices and global technologies” Dr Sayeed Ahmed, organising secretary of SFEC 2020 said.