10.9.2008

The Ministry of Indigenous Medicine has taken steps to set up three Ayurvedic centers in Perth, Melbourne, and Canberra in Australia, in response to continuous requests made by Sri Lankan community living in these cities.

These treatment centers will get the service of Ayurvedic doctors including specialists and a well trained staff while the medicines required will be provided by the Ministry. The centers will be managed by Sri Lankans in Australia.

The activities of these three centers are supervised by the "National Ayurvedic Trust" established by the Ministry of Indigenous Medicine.

The initial treatment through these centers will be provided at a promotional rate and with the improvements and the stabilization of these centers they will be maintained as individual bodies without funding from the Ministry.

Any profit gained thorough these centers will be directed to the National Ayurvedic Trust which is instituted with the objective of assisting and improving the local Ayurvedic sector.

The Ministry has also been requested by Sri Lankans living in Sydney, Adelaide, and Brisbane to seek the possibility of establishing such centers in their cities with the success of the activities of the initial three centers.

According to Minister of Indigenous Medicine, Tissa Karaliyadde, in addition to promoting Ayurvedic medicine to the international it will also help in bringing a boost to the tourism industry in Sri Lanka.

He also emphasized with the emerging global trend to seek Ayurvedic treatments especially by the Europeans, Sri Lanka will have a good opportunity to earn foreign exchange by taking local Ayurvedic medicine system to the internal market.