- Ministry of AYUSH has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
- The MOU aims for further cooperation in research on traditional systems of medicine like Ayurveda,Unani,Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH) and their integration with modern science.
- Further,the collaboration also aims to preserve and protect traditional knowledge related to the old forms of treatment and the development of international standardised terminologies (disease-morbidity codes) in Ayurveda,Siddha and Unani(ASU).
- Earlier,CSIR with the Ministry of AYUSH had developed the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library(TKDL).TKDL is a globally recognized proprietary database on Indian systems of medicine for preventing bio-piracy and misappropriation of traditional knowledge.
- The objective of the library is to protect the ancient and traditional knowledge of the country by documenting it electronically and classifying it as per international patent classification systems.
- Apart from that,the non-patent database serves to foster modern research based on traditional knowledge, as it simplifies access to this vast knowledge of remedies or practices.
