A new curriculum for medicine, integrating modern and traditional practices, is being prepared and would be implemented within two years, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said on Tuesday.
"Today's medical curriculum is outdated. We are working towards integration of both the modern and traditional practices in the new curriculum. It is expected to come out within two years time," Ramadoss said on the sidelines of a National Seminar on Ayurvedic Industry.
Consultation process on the new curriculum, involving various ministries including the Ministry of Human Resource Development, would begin in few weeks, Ramadoss said.
When asked whether the new curriculum would be on the lines of Korea, he said "we are not going to follow any country's curriculum.
"Our traditional medicinal system is time tested. Diagnostic science would be given more priority."
Ramadoss also said that his Ministry would set up four drug testing laboratories at New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai at an initial investment of Rs 120 crore.
To assess quality of Indian drugs, which drew flak from a couple of international health magazines recently, Ramadoss said the government was trying to put in place a proper mechanism that involved certifications from research organisations like Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and Indian Council for Medical Research.
"A taskforce, which would look into different aspects of drug quality in the Indian system of medicine, would be headed by director general of CSIR R A Mashelkar," he said.