Dubai: A leading academic from the Aligarh Muslim University has won the international award for Traditional, Complementary, and Alternative medicine in UAE. Professor Wazahat Husain is a retired chairman of the Department of Botany at AMU.
He received the Second Sheikh Zayed International Award at an event organised by the Zayed Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation, a non-profit aiming to improve the quality of life. The award is meant to honour eminent academics and scientists of Traditional Complementary and Alternative Medicine (TCAM ) globally. It also aims to recognise TCAM physicians from the UAE to enhance their knowledge and practices.
Traditional medicine is defined as the sum of knowledge, skill, and practices used to maintain health. They are also specific to indigenous experiences and beliefs. However, alternative medicine is a broad set of healthcare practices that are not part of a country's own tradition or conventional medicine. They are also not fully integrated into the dominant healthcare system.
Husain is a plant taxonomy expert who has been conferred Lifetime Achievement Awards twice - once jointly by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the AYUSH ministry and then by the Wildlife Institute of India and Department of Wildlife Sciences, AMU.
He told PTI that he is honoured to represent Aligarh university and India. "Academics do not work for recognition, but when they come, they must be accepted with humility. I dedicate this award to my university and my country."