The proposed Kerala University for Medical and Allied Sciences will handle all the academic activities, including the conduct of examinations from 2009-10. Before this all the colleges under each stream including paramedical colleges would be affiliated to this university. The University Act and statute will be formulated within six months and will be presented in the Assembly.

For deciding the policy matters of the university, the government has appointed a high-level committee headed by Health Minister P K Sreemathi in which the secretaries of Health, Higher Education & medical education heads from allopathy, Ayurveda and homoeo have been made members. Dr Usha Titus has been appointed as the project director.

Health Minister P K Sreemathi while announcing the decision after the Cabinet meeting said that there should not be any apprehensions on the combined university. “The interests of all the systems of medicine will be protected while forming the university. The government does not intend to join all the streams mechanically,” she said.

The Minister said that the government had taken the decision to go for a combined university after studying all the three committee reports. The LDF Government has appointed three separate committees headed by Dr.B Ekbal for modern medicine, Dr K Sankaran for Ayurveda and Dr K Janakikutty for homoeo to submit a detailed project on the medical university.

The proposed university will be set up on the Thrissur Medical College Hospital campus for which 25 acres of land will be utilized. It was the promise made by the LDF in the manifesto that a medical university would be set up to enforce a systematic and scientific procedure in the medical education sector, said Sreemathi.

Apart from affiliation of colleges, the proposed university will give more importance to research and development. The State Cabinet also gave administration sanction for the setting up of the ESI Medical College at Paripally in Kollam for which the Centre had already given nod.

The main health care facilities are being provided through 1,200 Ayurvedic health institutions in the state. He said that school health care Programme is being associated with every Ayurvedic institution, besides a Programme to make the state anemia free. He said that ’Panchkarma’ system of treatment is being popularized in the state. He directed principal secretary and director Ayurveda to ensure active participation of Ayurvedic doctors in the implementation of all national health Programmes.

Ayurveda minister said that there is a great possibility of herbal cultivation in the state, which would generate employment opportunities to our youth of the state. He said that in this connection Swami Ramdev had already had discussions with the officers of forest, agriculture, horticulture and Ayurveda. He said that Swami Ramdev is keen to purchase herbal medicines at remunerative rates including Ghritkumari, Chhota Amla, and Amrita etc. He said that Ayurvedic doctors would be appointed in 74 community health centres. He also released a directory on the health institutions functioning in the state.

Representatives of AYUSH departments of ministry of health, government of India, eminent resource persons, Ayurveda officers and chief medical officers from all over the state are participating in the two day seminar. Bindal thanked ministry of AYUSH, Government of India for declaring HP the nodal state for the implementation of the geriatrics health care campaign in the country. He wished that this campaign should be named as long life programme for senior citizens.