WHO Names NIIMH Hyderabad as Official Collaborating Center

Hyderabad: The World Health Organization (WHO) has designated the National Institute of Indian Medical Heritage (NIIMH), Hyderabad, as a Collaborating Centre (CC) for “Fundamental and Literary Research in Traditional Medicine”.
As the first WHO Collaborating Centre for “Fundamental and Literary Research in Traditional Medicine,” NIIMH is tasked with assisting WHO in standardizing terminologies for Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, and Sowa-Rigpa, and updating the Traditional Medicine Module-II for the Eleventh edition of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11). Additionally, the WHO Collaborating Centre will support Member States in developing research methodologies for Traditional Medicine.
Speaking on the occasion Prof. Vaidya Rabinarayan Acharya, Director General of NIIMH and Head of the WHO-CC said, “This designation by WHO is a significant milestone, reflecting our relentless efforts in the field of traditional medicine and historical research.”
The Institute has been a pioneer in various digital initiatives of Ayush like AMAR Portal,SAHI Portal, and NAMASTE Portal. “The AMAR Portal, which catalogues 16,000 Ayush manuscripts, featuring 4,249 digitized manuscripts, 1,224 rare books, 14,126 catalogues, and 4,114 periodicals. The SAHI Portal showcases 793 medico-historical artefacts, while the e-Books of Ayush project provides digital versions of classical textbooks. The NAMASTE Portal collects cumulative morbidity statistics from 168 hospitals, and the Ayush Research Portal indexes 42,818 published Ayush research articles” said the NIIMH director in an official statement.
National Institute of Indian Medical Heritage (NIIMH), Hyderabad, a unit under the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), Ministry of Ayush. Established in 1956, NIIMH, Hyderabad, is a unique institution dedicated to documenting and showcasing medico-historical research in Ayurveda, Yoga Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa-Rigpa, Homoeopathy, Biomedicine, and other related healthcare disciplines in India.
According to the WHO, collaborating centres main role is to provide strategic support to the Organization to meet two main needs- Firstly, Implementing WHO’s mandated work and programme objectives and secondly, Developing and strengthening institutional capacity in countries and regions.