11th Ayurveda Day Celebration in Jeddah Highlights Preventive Health, Wellness and Ayurveda’s Contemporary Relevance
By Dr. Sameera Aziz
(Saudi Media & Businesswoman)
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia — The Consulate General of India
in Jeddah marked the 11th Ayurveda Day on September 29, 2026, with a
programme built around this year’s theme, “Ayurveda for a Healthier
Tomorrow,” and the broader vision of “One Health, One Future.” The
celebration placed Ayurveda within a contemporary discussion on holistic
well-being, preventive healthcare, nutrition and balanced lifestyles.
Explore Dr. Sameera Aziz’s Short Reel on the 11th Ayurveda Day.
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Having attended the programme, what interested me most was
that the evening did not present Ayurveda merely as an ancient tradition. It
created a broader conversation about how traditional knowledge can be examined
alongside modern healthcare, scientific research, nutrition, wellness education
and responsible regulation.
The gathering brought together representatives of Saudi institutions, members of the diplomatic community, healthcare and wellness professionals, academics, business and industry representatives, and members of the Indian community. Among the guests were Mr. Samer Tawfiq Abu Ghazaleh, Chairman of the Jeddah Chamber Healthcare and Wellness Council, and Padma Shri Nouf Marwaai, Founder of the Arab Yoga Foundation and President of the Asian Yogasana Sports Federation.
From an Ancient Tradition to a Contemporary Health Discussion
The programme began with the traditional lighting of the
lamp, followed by welcoming remarks.
Addressing the gathering, H.E. Fahad Suri, Consul General of
India, spoke about Ayurveda as one of India’s longstanding knowledge traditions
and highlighted its contemporary relevance to preventive health, nutrition,
balanced living and holistic well-being.
The programme then moved beyond ceremonial introductions
into specialist discussion.
Dr. Shihana Hassan, BAMS, delivered a presentation
titled “Before Disease Knocks: The Preventive Wisdom of Ayurveda,”
focusing on the Ayurvedic emphasis on prevention and healthy living.
Dr. Jemshith Ahmed, Member of the Jeddah Chamber
Healthcare and Wellness Council, addressed the theme “Harmony in
Healing,” exploring the potential for dialogue between traditional systems
of knowledge and modern medicine.
For me, this was one of the more relevant aspects of the
event. The important question today is not whether traditional medicine and
modern medicine should compete with one another. The more useful question is
where traditional knowledge can be studied objectively, where evidence supports
its use, where additional research is required, and how patient safety can
remain the priority.
That approach is increasingly reflected at the international
level. The World Health Organization’s Global Traditional Medicine Strategy
2025–2034, adopted by the World Health Assembly in 2025, calls for stronger
scientific evidence, appropriate regulation, qualified practitioners and the
integration of safe and effective traditional and complementary approaches
where appropriate.
WHO has also noted that traditional medicine is used by billions
of people worldwide, while its 2026 research agenda reported that the field
still receives less than one per cent of global health research funding.
That gap between widespread use and the research base is precisely why serious
scientific study matters.
Ayurveda as an Experience, Not Only a Lecture
The Jeddah programme also included a meditation session,
Ayur Natyam, interactive exchanges and personal testimonials, allowing
participants to encounter different dimensions of Ayurveda and traditional
wellness practices rather than only hearing academic presentations.
These activities were linked to the concept of “One
Health, One Future,” drawing attention to the relationship between
individual well-being, healthier communities and the wider environment.
A specially curated Ayurveda Exhibition was another
important component of the evening.
The exhibition featured Ayurvedic medicines and wellness
products, medicinal plants, herbs and spices, educational material about
Ayurveda and other wellness displays. Guests, dignitaries and participants
interacted with experts and exhibitors.
The Ayur Aahaar presentation focused specifically on
the role of balanced and wholesome nutrition within the Ayurvedic approach to
healthy living.
The nutrition component was particularly relevant because
preventive health is increasingly connected with everyday behaviour—what people
eat, how active they are, how they manage stress and whether healthier routines
can be sustained over time.
What Could Ayurveda Mean for Saudi Arabia?
For Saudi Arabia, I believe the most interesting discussion
is not about importing another healthcare system wholesale. The opportunity is
to identify areas where traditional knowledge, scientific evidence, wellness
education and Saudi regulatory standards can meet responsibly.
Saudi Arabia already has an institutional framework for
complementary medicine. The National Center for Complementary and
Alternative Medicine, linked to the Ministry of Health, serves as the
national reference for regulating complementary and alternative medicine
practices in the Kingdom.
The Saudi Food and Drug Authority separately
regulates herbal and health products, including their safety, efficacy,
quality, registration and permitted claims. Herbal products cannot simply be
marketed with unrestricted therapeutic promises; regulatory requirements apply.
This distinction is important.
Ayurveda may create opportunities in areas such as wellness
education, healthy lifestyle programmes, nutrition research, herbal-product
research, professional training and academic exchange, but any clinical
practice or therapeutic product in Saudi Arabia must operate within the
Kingdom’s existing health and regulatory framework.
For Saudi consumers, that also means Ayurvedic preparations
should not be assumed to be safe merely because they are described as natural.
Herbs and conventional medicines can interact, and patients with chronic
illnesses, pregnant women and people taking prescription medicines should seek
qualified medical advice before using herbal preparations.
Traditional knowledge is most valuable when respect for
tradition is matched by patient safety and scientific responsibility.
Education May Be One of the Strongest Areas for
Cooperation
There is already an academic basis for deeper discussion in
Saudi Arabia.
Saudi educational classifications include Ayurvedic
Medicine within the broader field of complementary and alternative medicine,
while Saudi universities already teach aspects of complementary, herbal and
integrative medicine.
At Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, for
example, a postgraduate course in alternative and complementary medicine
includes Ayurveda among the traditional medical systems studied. King Saud
University and Taibah University also offer coursework addressing
complementary, herbal or integrative medicine from scientific and
pharmacological perspectives.
The National Center for Complementary and Alternative
Medicine has also established academic cooperation with Saudi universities,
including agreements aimed at research, education, training and professional
development.
This, in my view, presents a realistic avenue for
Saudi–Indian cooperation.
Rather than approaching Ayurveda only as a commercial
wellness product, universities and health institutions could explore joint
research, professional seminars, comparative studies of medicinal plants,
pharmacology, nutrition, herb–drug interactions and evidence-based
complementary medicine.
Saudi Arabia and India both possess extensive traditions
involving medicinal plants and traditional health knowledge. Scientific
collaboration could therefore be more meaningful than simply transferring
consumer products from one market to another.
The GCC Already Offers Different Regulatory Models
The wider Gulf region also provides useful examples.
In Oman, the Ministry of Health has a formal
licensing framework for Ayurveda. Its complementary medicine guidelines define
categories including Ayurveda practitioners, physicians privileged to practise
Traditional Indian Medicine, and Ayurveda technicians or therapists. The
requirements include recognised professional education, licensing and relevant
clinical experience.
Oman also operates a formal registration process for Ayurvedic
products, alongside herbal, homeopathic and Chinese-medicine products.
In the United Arab Emirates, the healthcare
regulatory framework recognises Ayurvedic practitioners and permits licensing
of traditional and complementary medicine facilities, including Ayurveda
centres, subject to regulatory requirements.
Dubai Health Authority was also surveying Traditional,
Complementary and Integrative Medicine services in 2026, reflecting
continuing regulatory interest in how such services fit within a modern
healthcare environment.
These examples do not mean that one GCC country's regulatory
model automatically applies to another. Each country has its own healthcare
laws, licensing standards and product regulations.
But they do demonstrate that Ayurveda in the Gulf is no
longer simply a cultural practice confined to expatriate communities. In parts
of the region, it has entered formal discussions around professional licensing,
education, healthcare regulation and wellness services.
Where I See the Opportunity
As a Saudi journalist and businesswoman, I see potential in
approaching Ayurveda through three carefully connected areas: research and
education, regulated wellness, and professional exchange.
The first is academic. Saudi and Indian institutions could
expand exchanges involving researchers, pharmacists, nutrition specialists and
complementary-health experts.
The second is wellness and prevention. There may be room for
carefully designed programmes dealing with healthy diets, stress management,
lifestyle awareness and other non-emergency wellness areas—provided that claims
remain evidence-based and services comply with Saudi regulations.
The third is business. Saudi Arabia's expanding healthcare,
wellness, hospitality and tourism sectors may create commercial opportunities
for properly regulated wellness products, professional services and
health-oriented hospitality concepts. But commercial enthusiasm must follow
regulation, not precede it.
Saudi Arabia's rapidly developing wellness and tourism
landscape also makes this conversation relevant beyond hospitals and clinics.
Wellness tourism, resorts, spas, healthy-food concepts and preventive lifestyle
programmes are increasingly interconnected industries. Ayurveda could
potentially contribute to that ecosystem where appropriate, licensed and
supported by evidence.
“One Health, One Future”
The strongest message I took from the programme was perhaps
contained in its broader vision: “One Health, One Future.”
Health is no longer discussed only in terms of treating
illness after it occurs. Prevention, nutrition, mental well-being, physical
activity, environmental sustainability and community health are increasingly
considered interconnected.
Ayurveda's historical emphasis on lifestyle and balance
gives it a natural place in this conversation, but its future relevance will
depend on something equally important: the willingness to subject traditional
knowledge to contemporary standards of research, safety and accountability.
That balance—respecting heritage without abandoning
scientific scrutiny—could be the most constructive way forward.
The 11th Ayurveda Day celebration in Jeddah succeeded in
opening that conversation among diplomats, healthcare professionals, academics,
businesses and members of the community.
For Saudi Arabia and the wider GCC, the opportunity lies not
in choosing between the ancient and the modern, but in examining where credible
traditional knowledge can contribute responsibly to contemporary health and
wellness.
About the Author:
Dr. Sameera Aziz is a senior Saudi journalist,
businesswoman, author, poet, analyst, and speaker based in Jeddah. Holding a
PhD in Mass Media, she is among Saudi Arabia's pioneering female journalists,
with a strong interest in Saudi Vision 2030, entertainment, business, media,
literature, and cultural exchange. She can be reached at consultant.sameera.aziz@gmail.com
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