By Sujeeva Nivunhella in London

The untiring efforts of three Sri Lankan medical professionals saw the establishment of the British Ayurveda Medical Council in the United Kingdom recently.

Thanks to the initiative of Shantha Godagama, Mauroof Athique and Palitha Serasinghe, the project has now become a reality.

The Council has a ten-member expert advisory board chaired by Dr. Godagama, two professors, research scientists and three highly qualified Western medical specialists with a keen interest in Ayurveda.

Dr. Godagama said the British government set up three committees over the past 30 years, including a Parliamentary Select Committee on regulation of Ayurveda and the Prince of Wales Foundation of Integrated Health headed by Prince Charles himself, to draft a report to ascertain whether Ayurveda medicine can be included in the National Health Service.

The final government report submitted by Professor David Walker, Deputy Chief Medical Officer in the UK, highlighted the importance of a self-regulatory body to win public confidence and to provide safe and high quality service in the UK”, he said.

‘We are now one step closer to seeing Ayurveda in the National Health Service in the near future. There has been tremendous interest for Ayurveda treatment from the British public and more Western doctors are joining the College of Ayurveda as they are of the view that it is the way forward for the safe practice of medicine in treating diseases”, he further said.

He said that both the Sri Lankan and Indian High Commissions extended their support. He expressed his gratitude to Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner in London, Saroja Sirisena and the Trade Commissioner, Dr. Lakmini Mendis for their assistance.

Dr. Godagama is the founder president of the Ayurvedic Medical Association in the UK. He was the first-ever adviser on Ayurveda for the British government and worked for 15 years with the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Authority and was involved in licensing herbal medicinal products under new licensing law.

He has also worked closely with Prince Charles, who believes that Ayurveda can be a therapeutic modality available under the National Health Service soon.

Dr. Godagama has been awarded ‘Glory of India’ and ‘Bharat Gaurav Award’ as well as ‘Ayurveda Rattan’ from the House of Lords.

Dr. Athique, a graduate from the Colombo Ayurveda College, obtained postgraduate qualifications from Harvard University in the USA. Earlier, he worked as the Director of Nursing at University of Northampton.

Dr. Serasinghe has a postgraduate qualification from King’s College London and worked as a senior lecturer at Faculty of Ayurveda in Colombo.