No more an acronym, AYUSH to be adopted as a word

Union AYUSH Minister Sripad Naik said it would underline the essential unity of all the holistic systems of healing.

"This decision would add strength to the efforts of the ministry to develop integrated solutions to manage the public health challenges of the country," he said.

"Today's decision would in the long term, highlight the unifying features of the different systems. This decision will also give a boost to India's efforts to find a place for the Indian systems of healthcare in the International Classification of Diseases of the World Health Organization," Naik said.

The CSTT was formed in 1960 with the objective to evolve and define scientific and technical terms in Hindi and all Indian languages.

Several words have gone from Indian languages to English, a senior ministry official said.

"It is apt the word 'AYUSH', which originally meant life in Sanskrit, will gain importance in the English language with a meaning complementary to traditional systems of healthcare," the official said.