New Delhi, Apr 11 (IANS): As part of an initiative to promote traditional Indian systems of medicine abroad, the health ministry has signed agreements and set up research facilities to collaborate with international universities, an official said.

The department of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) has been making efforts to promote Indian systems of medicine abroad, a health ministry official said Wednesday.

Among initiatives taken is the setting up of the Centre for Research in Indian System of Medicine (CRISM) under the National Centre for Natural Products Research (NCNPR), University of Mississippi, US, to facilitate collaborative research and disseminate information on Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani medicines.

The department also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Institute for Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charite University, Berlin (Germany), to conduct a collaborative research on effectiveness and safety of Ayurveda as a treatment system.

An Indo-US interactive meet was organised on AYUSH research to explore the feasibility to conduct joint Indo-US Ayurveda research and to facilitate Ayurveda's entry into mainstream US medicine, the official added.

Apart from this, the health minister of Malaysia visited the AYUSH department and discussed various issues pertaining to cooperation on traditional systems of medicine, the official said.