WHO bats for yoga’s health boost

Do not play politics with yoga. Yoga is about health and holistic way of living. This seems to be the message of the World Health Organisation as countries across the globe join in celebrations to mark the International Day of Yoga.

The WHO chief has said that it is closely working with various centres in India and across the world to support yoga with scientific evidence and include it into universal healthcare programmes.

“Yoga is used in many settings in which the health challenges are being addressed and it has a very prominent place in the holistic approach through prevention and control of health disorders,” Nata Menabde, Executive Director, WHO office to the United Nations, said.

She said that yoga was an ancient Vedic gift of India to the world, and the WHO was looking to bring yoga into education of medical practitioners.

India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Asoke Kumar Mukerji emphasised that by introducing yoga day globally, some of the biggest health challenges that the world had been facing could be tackled, and the application of yoga could bring happiness in the people’s daily lives.

Millions of people across the globe are participating in the first International Day of Yoga on June 21, signifying the increasing popularity and universality of this practice of yoking body and mind into unison.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched a new website dedicated to the International Day of Yoga. The website is being operated by the external affairs ministry and gives details about the programmes being held internationally on June 21.

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