Ministry for traditional medicine a good idea Traditional medicine systems either needs to be completely abolished, which in the current political context is unlikely, or strictly regulated
The Narendra Modi govt has created ministry for traditional medicine called Ayush that stands for Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy. Photo: Mint New Delhi: Last week Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a separate ministry to promote traditional Indian medicine—Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy, collectively known as Ayush. The decision has been ridiculed on social media, especially because Modi promised a small government, and also because at least one of the medicinal systems involved, homeopathy, has been scientifically proven to be based almost exclusively on the placebo effect. Almost all homeopathic medicines are nothing but sugar and water. Still, the creation of a ministry is a good idea. Traditional medicine systems either needs to be completely abolished, which in the current political context is unlikely, or strictly regulated. The decision to have an Ayush ministry is fairly straightforward. If it is going to be practised, it needs to be regulated. At last count, India had 261 medical colleges teaching Ayurveda and producing over 10,000 graduates every year. In all, Ayush has 516 dedicated teaching institutions and with a total admission capacity of 25,507 seats. For the record, the new minister, Shripad Naik, has been tasked with setting up a regulator and reviving these branches of medicine. The government’s vision is the make the Indian systems of medicine and homoeopathy (ISM&H) available in every primary health care centre. The government will also be posting ISM&H specialist in government hospitals. The aim to revive and regulate traditional medicine is welcome but the obvious concern is about the government’s definition of integration. These 25,000 Ayush graduates cannot be seen as an answer to the doctor shortage in India. They cannot be expected to practice modern medicine after a crash course in specific treatments as the latest draft of Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) bill expects them to. The bill, appallingly, allows abortions to be performed ayurveds, homoeopaths and midwives, in addition to allopathic doctors when the truth is that traditional medicine does not have the knowledge base required for abortions. The problem with the current policy is not that it wants to revive Ayush. It is that it wants to revive Ayush and make it practice modern medicine. There is no doubting the benefits of Ayurveda, yet it makes sense to ensure Ayurvedic medicines go through the same rigorous testing process allopathic ones do. Further, it will be interesting to see the regulator negotiate ethical issues. If patients opt for Ayurveda over allopathy to treat a condition that can easily be cured using modern medicine, is it ethically right for the medical practitioner to deny the simpler course of treatment? One of the best examples of reviving and integrating traditional and modern medicine is in Thailand, where government hospitals have integrated the traditional Thai medicine system even while strictly complying with its national health policy and the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. The country has a list of diseases for which it allows use of traditional medicine in combination with modern medicine. On paper, the move to have an exclusive ministry is welcome but it is unlikely to replicate the Thai model because, unfortunately for Ayush, it has got mixed up with religion. And that’s the biggest flaw with India’s traditional medicine systems.
Read more at: live Mint.
The Narendra Modi govt has created ministry for traditional medicine called Ayush that stands for Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy. Photo: Mint New Delhi: Last week Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a separate ministry to promote traditional Indian medicine—Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy, collectively known as Ayush. The decision has been ridiculed on social media, especially because Modi promised a small government, and also because at least one of the medicinal systems involved, homeopathy, has been scientifically proven to be based almost exclusively on the placebo effect. Almost all homeopathic medicines are nothing but sugar and water. Still, the creation of a ministry is a good idea. Traditional medicine systems either needs to be completely abolished, which in the current political context is unlikely, or strictly regulated. The decision to have an Ayush ministry is fairly straightforward. If it is going to be practised, it needs to be regulated. At last count, India had 261 medical colleges teaching Ayurveda and producing over 10,000 graduates every year. In all, Ayush has 516 dedicated teaching institutions and with a total admission capacity of 25,507 seats. For the record, the new minister, Shripad Naik, has been tasked with setting up a regulator and reviving these branches of medicine. The government’s vision is the make the Indian systems of medicine and homoeopathy (ISM&H) available in every primary health care centre. The government will also be posting ISM&H specialist in government hospitals. The aim to revive and regulate traditional medicine is welcome but the obvious concern is about the government’s definition of integration. These 25,000 Ayush graduates cannot be seen as an answer to the doctor shortage in India. They cannot be expected to practice modern medicine after a crash course in specific treatments as the latest draft of Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) bill expects them to. The bill, appallingly, allows abortions to be performed ayurveds, homoeopaths and midwives, in addition to allopathic doctors when the truth is that traditional medicine does not have the knowledge base required for abortions. The problem with the current policy is not that it wants to revive Ayush. It is that it wants to revive Ayush and make it practice modern medicine. There is no doubting the benefits of Ayurveda, yet it makes sense to ensure Ayurvedic medicines go through the same rigorous testing process allopathic ones do. Further, it will be interesting to see the regulator negotiate ethical issues. If patients opt for Ayurveda over allopathy to treat a condition that can easily be cured using modern medicine, is it ethically right for the medical practitioner to deny the simpler course of treatment? One of the best examples of reviving and integrating traditional and modern medicine is in Thailand, where government hospitals have integrated the traditional Thai medicine system even while strictly complying with its national health policy and the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. The country has a list of diseases for which it allows use of traditional medicine in combination with modern medicine. On paper, the move to have an exclusive ministry is welcome but it is unlikely to replicate the Thai model because, unfortunately for Ayush, it has got mixed up with religion. And that’s the biggest flaw with India’s traditional medicine systems.
Read more at: live Mint.
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