President prescribes 'Ayurveda pill' to Brazil

"Try India's Ayurveda medicinal system that could act as a panacea for Brazil's health woes." This was the advice from 73-year-old President Pratibha Patil to her Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, 10 years her junior, during their one-to-one meeting in Brasilia.

Patil, who wrapped up her three-day state visit to this Latin American country, presented a DVD on Ayurveda system of medicine to the Brazilian President.

According to a Presidential aide, Patil told Lula that Ayurveda was being followed in India and was cost-effective.

Brazil is looking towards India to improve its health care system at a low cost and some of the Indian pharmaceutical companies have already set up their bases for production in this Latin American country.

Officials said that Brazil, with huge forest reserves, had a large number of herbs in the country which needed to be exploited for providing health care to its population.

Greens Ayurvedics, a centre for Ayurvedic treatment and Kerala special rejuvenation packages, has already trained 13 students from Brazil last year.

The issue of producing bio-diesel from Jatropha plant was also discussed by the two leaders and the President conveyed to the her Brazilian counterpart that India was willing to provide essential training in this regard.

Turning to the issues of trade and investment, President Lula told Patil that it was high time for the Brazilian businessmen to discover India and also ensure that the trade target of 10 billion dollars this year was not only met but surpassed.