Vice president of Indo-Swiss Ayurveda Foundation Dilip Sinha said that a list of around 450 plants and formulations have been approved under the framework passed in 2011 in Switzerland. (Representational image)

Kolkata: Switzerland is planning to import Ayurvedic medicines from India from the middle of next year. This was informed by Simone Hunziker, founding president of Indo-Swiss Ayurveda Foundation on Wednesday. She was speaking to the media at 6th international delegates’ assembly of the 7th World Ayurveda Congress at the Science City here.

“Switzerland has institutionalised Ayurveda. A framework legislation has been passed in Parliament. Hopefully, Switzerland will start importing Ayurvedic medicines from India from the middle of 2017. The feedback of the patients on Ayurveda is good. Nearly 80 per cent of the patients find it great. So the Swiss government will also promote Ayurveda,” Ms Hunziker said while making the announcement.  Vice president of Indo-Swiss Ayurveda Foundation Dilip Sinha said that a list of around 450 plants and formulations have been approved under the framework passed in 2011 in Switzerland.

“But the medicines will have to undergo testing before being imported from India because the standard of living is very high in Switzerland,” he added. Ms Hunziker elaborated that Switzerland is also going to have Ayurveda practitioners by 2019. “At present, they are undertaking a six-year course including a diploma of three years for which they visit India in separate batches,” she explained.