New Delhi, Oct 9 (IANS): The idea of an integrative system of medicine is becoming popular all over the world, said President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday.

She said this at the seventh foundation day of the All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) in New Delhi.

“Ayurveda is one of the oldest medical systems in the world. It is India's invaluable gift to the world. Ayurveda emphasises holistic health management while maintaining a balance between mind, body, and spirit,” Murmu said.

While there has been awareness around the medicinal value of the trees and plants, modernised society “moved away from nature, and stopped using traditional knowledge”, the President said.

“It became easier to get medicine from a doctor than adopt home remedies.

“Now awareness among people is increasing. Today, the idea of an Integrative System of Medicine is becoming popular all over the world. Different medical systems are helping to provide health to people as complementary systems to each other,” Murmu said.

The President said that although faith in Ayurveda is “unwavering”, some people take advantage and cheat innocent people; spread misleading information and make false claims.

“This not only harms the money and health of the public but also defames Ayurveda,” she said, adding that “more qualified doctors are needed so that people do not have to go to uneducated doctors”.

She was happy to note that in the past few years, the number of Ayurveda colleges and students has increased significantly; which is expected to increase further.

Development of Ayurveda will benefit humans, animals and the environment, the President said.

Further, noting that it is “good to have healthy competition” among different medicine systems, Murmu asked to avoid criticising each other and to foster a “sense of cooperation".

Murmu also called on to increase “focus on research and continuous improvement in the quality of medicines to ensure the relevance of Ayurveda”.