Address by H.E. Ms Tamara Kunanayakam
Ambassador of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka in Cuba
Dr Juan Carriso Estévez, Rector, Latin American School of Medicine
Dr Rolando Serra Toledo, Representative of the Rector, José Echeverria Higher Polytechnic Institute
Lic. Adelaida Ramos, President, Sociedad Cultural “Jose Marti”
Lic. Concepción Campa, Director General of Institute Finlay
Dra. Martha Pérez Viñas, Nacional Director of Natural and Tradicional Medicine
Dear colleagues and friends:
Let me begin by expressing my gratitude to the Ministry of Public Health of Cuba and Dr Martha Pérez Viñas, National Director of Natural and Traditional Medicine of the Ministry for this opportunity to share in this noble exercise to promote and preserve traditional knowledge in the field of medicine as an efficient and effective system for maintaining positive health and in treating disease!
In keeping with the pledge of our President Mahinda Rajapaksa to preserve the system of indigenous medicine and to offer it to the world at large, the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Havana is proud to co-sponsor this event, which has provided space for the first Cuba – Sri Lanka Symposium on Ayurveda. The Symposium on Ayurveda is the first to be held in this region.
It is our aim to promote the historical revival of the application of Ayurveda, a millenary South Asian science, in public health care worldwide and to contribute toward the protection of traditional knowledge, promotion of human well-being, preservation of the environment and sustainable development of the community.
I wish to also express our gratitude to the Government of Cuba for dedicating this II National Meeting on Traditional and Natural Medicine to more than 50 years of relations between Cuba and Sri Lanka!
Ours was the first Asian country to recognise the legitimacy of the Cuban Revolution. On 29 July 1959, our two island nations established diplomatic relations. A few months later, we welcomed to our country Comandante Ernesto Che Guevara, envoy of the Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz. It is symbolic that on that historic visit, 51 years ago, Comandante Ernesto Che Guevara planted a mahogany tree, the bark of which is used to treat disease and maintain positive health.
To achieve a qualitative leap in our bilateral relations was the target we set almost one year ago, on the occasion of our 50th Anniversary; to combine our creative energies and the means necessary to undertake concrete actions for the mutual benefit and wellbeing of humanity.
As an expression of our commitment, I have the great honour of presenting to you one of our most eminent experts in indigenous medicine, Dr Upali Pilapitiya, Director of the Ayurvedic Research and Research Centre, who is with us today to share with you his knowledge and vast experience in this field.
We are also expecting to join us this week, three other eminent experts from Sri Lanka, who are unfortunately not with us today due to delays in obtaining a transit visa to travel through Europe: Dr G.A.S. Premakumara, Director of the Herbal Technology Division of the Industrial Technical Institute of the Minister of Technology and Research; Dr. Senasekera, Director of the Bandaranaike Memorial Ayurvedic Research Institute; and, Upali Pilapitiya, Director of the Ayurvedic Research and Research Centre; and Dr. A.A.J. Pushpa Kumara, Head of the Shalya Shalakya Department of the Gampaha Wickramarachchi Ayurvedic Institute of the University of Kelaniya.
For 20 years, Dr Pilapitiya was Director of the Bandaranaike Memorial Ayurvedic Research Institute, then Director of the Institute of Indigenous Medicine of the University of Colombo. Later he was appointed as Secretary of the Ministry of Indigenous Medicine. Dr Pilapitiya was also a member of the WHO expert Advisory panel on traditional medicine and a consultant to the Asian Development Bank. Dr Pilapitiya has been conferred with several prestigious awards including a Presidential Award and a State award. More recently, he was conferred an award from the Ayurvedic Society in Toyama, Japan, for introducing the Kshara Sutra technique as a treatment for Fistula-in-Ano.
Mr. Chairman, Friends!
Sri Lanka holds a unique position in South Asia as one of the first developing country to provide universal health care, free education, and strong gender equality. Indigenous medicine is well integrated in our overall health care system and enjoys international credibility.
Sri Lanka’s system of traditional medicine is made up of Ayurveda and Siddha systems from India, and the Unani system from the Arabs, enriched with Sri Lanka’s own indigenous medicine, the Desheeya Chikitsa. In 1961, a Department of Ayurveda was established under the Ministry of Indigenous Medicine. Together they are responsible for the development of indigenous medicine, including training, registration, research, hospital care, herbal gardens, and production of Ayurveda drugs.
Records on the history of traditional medicine go back over 3,500 years. Evidence shows that Sri Lanka possessed a well organised medicare system with hospitals, its own surgical instruments and weighing devices, rest homes, herb gardens and conserved forests of medicinal trees and shrubs located in various parts of the island. Sri Lanka has perhaps the oldest hospital in the world, built in the 9th Century.
Under President Mahinda Rajapaksa there has been a resurgence of the system of traditional medicine with a focus on strengthening the knowledge base. Additional allocations seek to enhance research on ancient treatment methods that will contribute towards improving health standards of our country. Positive results have also been achieved in improving the manufacture of Ayurvedic medicine through a programme to promote the cultivation of medicinal plants.
A WHO survey reveals that 70% of the population in developing countries depends on traditional medicine. The situation in Sri Lanka is no different.
Developed nations have also witnessed renewed interest in the use of traditional medicine. Seventy percent of the population in Canada and 80 percent in Germany are reported to use it as complementary and/or alternative medical treatment.
And yet, traditional medicine remains largely marginalised from national health services.
Mr. Chairman, friends,
Sri Lanka pioneered the introduction of Ayurveda to the world. In 1956, the Government of the then Prime Minister Solomon Dias Bandaranaike proposed to the World Health Organisation Assembly the application of Ayurveda as a means of resolving health problems worldwide.
In November 2008, the first WHO Congress on Traditional Medicine in Beijing adopted a Declaration that provides a powerful endorsement of traditional medicine as an efficient and effective system of self-sustainable health promotion, and supports its integration into national health systems.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his United People’s Freedom Alliance Government continue the commitment to promotion of the historical revival of the application of Ayurveda and integrative and complementary practices in public health care, globally.
In his 2009 budget speech, President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared in unambiguous terms – and I quote, “I treat it as a duty cast upon me by history, to preserve and disseminate indigenous medicine related knowledge to the world.”
Mr. Chairman, Friends,
The protection and preservation of indigenous medicine and human well-being are dependent on the protection and preservation of our biodiversity. It is significant that this event is taking place in the International Year of Biodiversity, which has as its theme `Biodiversity for Development’. Biodiversity can help alleviate the national costs of supplying medical provisions in many developing countries. The widespread reliance of the poor on natural medicines is met largely through the use of locally harvested plant extracts.
Medicinal plants are an integral part of Sri Lankan life. Sri Lanka's forests have the highest density of species diversity in the world - 3,350 species of flowering plants and more than 300 species of ferns, of which many are endemic. More than 500 species of native flora have been used in traditional medicine. At least 189 medicinal plant species on Sri Lanka are found nowhere else in the world. Among Sri Lanka’s 7 heritage sites is the Sinharaja tropical rainforest with one of the highest bio diversities in the world outside the Amazon basin.
However, about 70 species in Sri Lanka are now threatened with extinction. According to a recent Botanical Survey of India, as much as 93% of the wild plants used in Ayurveda are threatened with extinction due to overexploitation. Climate change, deforestation, bio-prospecting and bio-piracy are among the main causes.
Sri Lanka has established protected area networks for in-situ conservation. These will be expanded to capture all ecosystems in the country covering all wild plant species and animals, through the establishment of strict nature reserves. Ex-situ conservation and cultivation of medicinal plants are being conducted through herbal farm village projects throughout the country with the active involvement of farming communities. Paramount consideration is being given to measures to prevent the misappropriation of genetic resources.
However, guided by the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, my Government takes the firm view that those in the Western industrialised countries who have historically contributed to climate change, must bear the lion’s share of the burden.
Mr. Chairman, Friends,
We are determined to guarantee and consolidate our independence through home grown solutions to the economic, social and political challenges we face. The preservation of our traditional knowledge and the control and further enhancement of our natural wealth and resources is crucial to achieving this goal.
Sri Lanka’s actions and commitment to preserve and protect traditional knowledge and biodiversity for the benefit of humanity is inspired by the Siddhartha Gautama Buddha’s relation to nature and knowledge of its generosity, expressed in his wise message – and I quote:
"The forest is a peculiar organism of unlimited kindness and benevolence that makes no demand for its sustenance and extends generously the products of its life activity; it affords protection to all beings, offering shade even to the axeman who would destroy it"
Sri Lanka and Cuba share common views on the sovereign right of States to decide for themselves and to control and develop their own wealth and resources for the benefit of their own people – without external intervention. We also share common views on intra-regionally evolved measures and South-South cooperation.
It is my fervent hope that this unique event is only the beginning of a fruitful process of cooperation and joint action, at the bilateral and multilateral levels, for the preservation and enhancement of our traditional knowledge base for the benefit and well-being of humanity, and as a way of advancing a common philosophy.
Thank You!
