Trade and practice of Ayurveda is being popularised in Israel recently. The system is practised as a Traditional Medicine without any recognition. Very few drugs are used in the country. Reidmann International College for Complimentary Medicines under Dr.A.Mizrahi in Tel Aviv conducts Educational courses in Ayurveda. The system practised as a CAM therapy is not officially recognised.
Apart from these countries, Ayurveda is practised in one form or other in many other countries like Romania, Poland, Arabian countries, etc. The system is best popular as a CAM/TM therapy. There are many educational institutions, Therapy Centers and Clinics running successfully. Here, Indian stores and General stores sell a wide range of Ayurvedic drugs labeled as Ayurvedic herbal product. The lack of proper regulatory methods coupled with the growing demand is causing fatal damage to the reputation of the system by the forged practices of the system. Some are genuine where as mostly the controversies regarding Adverse Drug Reactions are baseless due to improper evidence. The hue and cry over heavy metal contents and the toxicity of the same has recently damaged the science to a great extent.
Trading of Ayurveda products outside India
In most of the countries, where Ayurveda is practiced, the practitioners get their medicines from private sources in India, with an unofficial import arrangement, circumventing the law. The small-scale practitioners bring medicines traveling to India. Official export from India is only a very small percentage compared to the trade and consumption figures. The controversial Ayurveda medicines reported to have heavy metal contents by the JAMA are not officially exported from India. It is a food for thought for the authorities as to how these medicines are reaching consumers when the country of origin is not exporting it, the country of sale does not allow the sale of the same for medicinal purpose, and the fact that drugs with Ayurvedic metal and mineral contents are not to be sold as OTC products and are always recommended to be sold with the recommendation of a qualified Ayurveda practitioner.
Since the Trade of Ayurveda medicines in most of these countries are done circumventing the local law, and mostly the drugs are not declared to have medicinal functions and sold through Indian stores and general markets, it is very difficult to accurately estimate the exact figures for the usage of Indian Ayurvedic Medicines in these countries.
