India and Germany advanced collaboration in
traditional and integrative healthcare at the third Joint Working Group (JWG)
Meeting on Alternative Medicine between the Ministry of Ayush, Government of
India, and the Federal Ministry of Health, Germany, held from November 18 to 20
in Berlin.
The Indian delegation led by Ministry of
Ayush Joint Secretary Monalisha Dash included Prof. (Dr.) Rabinarayan Acharya,
Director General, CCRAS; Dr. Subhash Kaushik, Director General, CCRH; Dr.
Koustabha Upadhyay, Adviser, Ministry of Ayush; and Dr. Kashinath Samagandi,
Director, MDNY. The delegation engaged with leading German institutions to further
concrete avenues of collaboration. The German officials included Paul Zubeil,
Head of Division European and International Health Policy, German Ministry of
Health; Prof. Dr. med. Georg Seifert, Head of Competence Center for Traditional
and Integrative Medicine, Charité Berlin; Andrea Galle, CEO, BKK mkk (statutory
health insurance fund) and Dr. Jaqueline Wiesner, Head of Department for
Vitamins, minerals, special therapeutic approaches, Federal Institute for Drugs
and Medical Devices (BfArM).
The discussions centred on three key
pillars—integrating traditional medicine into public health systems,
establishing reimbursement pathways for patient access, and strengthening
regulatory approval mechanisms.
The key engagements included:
*Competence Center for Traditional and
Integrative Medicine, Charité University, to explore collaborative research
opportunities and advance the proposed MoU with the Ministry of Ayush.
*Community Hospital Havelhöhe – Clinic for
Anthroposophic Medicine, reviewing integrative care and research practices and
*Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) for
detailed discussions on insurance and reimbursement mechanisms relevant to
traditional medicine.
