AIIA treated 37.74 lakh patients in 10 years; yearly visits up from 1.23 to 5.4 lakh

The All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA), the national Ayurveda hospital and research institute in New Delhi that works under the Ministry of Ayush, said on October 16, 2026 that it treated 37,74,524 patients between October 2016 and September 2026. The figure comes from a report the institute released on its first ten years of patient care. About 30.37 lakh of those patients were treated at its main campus in Sarita Vihar, and about 7.37 lakh at its satellite, affiliated and outreach centres. The institute said yearly patient numbers grew from about 1.23 lakh in 2020 to more than 5.40 lakh by September 2026.

AIIA is the Ministry of Ayush's flagship Ayurveda institution, combining a hospital with postgraduate teaching and research. Its patient numbers are one of the clearest signs of how much people actually use government Ayurveda services, rather than how much is spent on them. A rise from about 1.23 lakh patients in 2020 to more than 5.40 lakh in the twelve months to September 2026 is more than a fourfold increase in six years.

The 2020 figure was taken in the year the pandemic hit, when hospital visits of all kinds fell, so part of the later jump reflects recovery from a low base. Even so, the director's reading is that interest in Ayurveda grew after COVID-19, when many people turned to traditional practices for immunity and recovery. The institute's own count does not say which conditions brought patients in, how many came back for repeat visits, or how outcomes were measured, so the numbers show demand, not results.

The split between the main campus and the outreach network is also telling. Roughly four in five patients were seen at Sarita Vihar, which shows that most people still travel to the central hospital. The satellite and outreach centres, including the one in Goa, account for the remaining fifth. That is the part the government will need to grow if Ayurveda care is to reach people outside Delhi.

Short-term: The report gives the Ministry of Ayush a hard number to point to as it promotes Ayurveda in public health care. It also shows the pressure on the main campus, where daily outpatient capacity of about 3,000 is already a large load.

Long-term: If demand keeps rising at this pace, AIIA will need more beds, more doctors and more outreach centres, and it will face growing calls to publish outcome data alongside visit counts. Evidence of what treatments work, for which conditions, is what would give Ayurveda wider acceptance among doctors and insurers.

Who is affected: Patients who use or are considering Ayurveda treatment in Delhi and at AIIA's other centres; Ayurveda students and doctors trained at the institute; and policymakers planning the spread of Ayush services across states.

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