Wellness, the way to perfect health holistically

NEW DELHI - Wellness is the new buzzword for complete health — physical, mental and spiritual — and more and more people are making a beeline for spas and salons for that magical massage or aroma therapy that peps you up.

At the first International Wellness Summit in India, held Thursday at a hotel in Surajkund on the outskirts of the capital, speakers associated with the industry, including tourism and health officials and spa owners, spoke of how traditional medicine systems have become part of health care today.

The global wellness industry is worth $500 billion and is projected to touch $1 trillion by 2014, said Amitabh Kant, the CEO and MD of the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation.

In India, the wellness industry had grown 250 percent since 2002. “In India, the wellness industry stands at Rs.110 billion, which is likely to go up 35-40 percent over the next few years,” Kant said, quoting a study done by Ernst and Young.

Wellness is not an elitist concept, Kant told IANS on the sidelines of the summit.”The concept of wellness combines alternative therapy, fitness, and medical treatment. It is a holistic way of treatment.”

According to Arati Thapa, editor of asiaSpa India magazine, some major hospitals are planning to set up spas in their hospitals to give “complete healthcare” to patients opting for it.

Sujit Banerjee, who has just retired as secretary, ministry of tourism, said the government along with the stakeholders is preparing guidelines for accreditation of spas and salons that offer wellness packages. He said wellness included ayurveda, yoga, unani, and siddha - the traditional systems of Indian medicine.