The Commission for Scientific and Technical Terminology has decided to adopt the word AYUSH in Hindi and English languages for scientific and technical purposes. AYUSH became popular as the acronym for five traditional and complementary systems of medicine -- Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy -- and successfully adopted and used in all government communications, an official statement said. The decision follows a proposal from the Ministry of AYUSH in this regard.
Hailing this decision, AYUSH Minister Shripad Naik, said it would underline the essential unity of all holistic systems of healing. He added that this decision would add strength to the efforts of the ministry to develop integrated solutions to manage the public health challenges of the country.
As approved by the commission, the word 'AYUSH' will have the meaning "traditional and non-conventional systems of health care and healing which include Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa, Homoeopathy and others. Following the commission's recognition, the word is expected to gain currency in popular usage in a short span of time.
Despite many commonalities, the practice of the AYUSH systems of healthcare have remained fragmented in system-specific silos. Friday's decision would, in the long term, highlight the unifying features of the different systems. It would facilitate projects and activities of larger scope to emerge, and thereby promote faster development of these systems. This decision will also give a boost to India's efforts to find a place for the Indian systems of healthcare in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) of the World Health Organization (WHO). The Indian systems finding a place in ICD will lead to their international acceptance, increased rigor of research in them and their overall development.
Posted at: May 13, 2018, 7:47 PM; last updated: May 14, 2018, 2:16 AM (IST)
Sex selection possible through Ayurveda, claims AYUSH varsity VC
Vishal Joshi
Tribune News Service
Kurukshetra, May 13
Vice Chancellor of the newly established AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) University here, Dr Baldev Kumar Dhiman on Sunday triggered a row while claiming that Ayurveda contains the way of gender selection before conception.
At a function to mark the birth anniversary celebration of Narad Muni, a religious figure, Dhiman claimed the strict following of ayurvedic prescription would give desired results.
When asked for a clarification by this correspondent about his claim on the sex selection, Dhiman further stated that a prescription from traditional alternative technique includes, medication, strict dietary and physical regulations and certain meditation techniques were required to be adopted at the pre-conception stage.
“The ancient scripture clearly mentions that it is possible to select gender before pregnancy. But one has to follow the instructions for two months for results,” he claimed at the function organised to honour the journalists.
Meanwhile, the state health officials have expressed shock over the claim and cited the public statement as a gross violation of Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act.
“In no medical system anywhere in the world, there is any proven method to determine the gender at the pre-conception stage or after pregnancy. As per the law, anyone found claiming about sex selection in any way is liable for prosecution for violation of Section 6 of the PCPNDT Act,” said a senior health functionary, requesting anonymity.
Another official said such a claim by a VC was shocking as it challenged the prime minister’s flagship programme of gender parity.
“Haryana Government is also making sincere efforts to improve sex ratio by strict implementation of PCPNDT Act. Top health expert like the VC should be extra cautious while making any claim on a sensitive issue like gender selection,” he said.
An RSS ideologue, Dhiman was associated with the ABVP and other right-wing Hindu organisations. He is considered close to the Chief Minister ML Khattar and the RSS leaders.
Before joining as the V-C, Dhiman was director in AYUSH department and he was reportedly handpicked by Khattar.
Around eight thousand students are enrolled in Jamia Hamdard Institute. File Photo - The Hindu
NEW DELHI, MAY 8
There has been an increase in the rankings of Jamia Hamdard, a deemed to be University, according to the latest National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF) released by Human Resource Ministry. The University has been placed at 23rd position in the list of best universities in India.
Institute’s pharmacy college has been ranked second, while the Medical school is ranked 11th. It has also secured ‘A’ grade among all the three cycles of NAAC accreditation process.
Jamia Hamdard offers medical programs in modern system of medicine as well as traditional Unani system. The institute is also focusing on applying innovation in the issues concerned to societal development.
Right now, there are around eight thousand students enrolled in the institute and the faculty student ratio is of 1:18.
Pharmacists often sneer at homeopathy and
other natural health quackery. But they do sell it, which on the face of it
contravenes the South African Pharmacy Council’s ethical rules. There should be
an “ethical pharmacy” certification in South Africa.
My
local pharmacy sells a product called Septoguard. On the box, it claims to be a
“natural antibiotic”. Unlike other antibiotics, however, it is freely
available, requiring no prescription.
Being
a curious, scientific sort, I rummaged inside the box, where I found a package
insert, just like you would with real medicine. Reading it, a few oddities
struck me.
The
pharmacological classification is “D: Unani-Tibb”. It is surprising that an
antibiotic would not be classified under the usual “A.20: Antimicrobial agents”
heading, or one of its sub-headings, because that is where antibiotics intended
for use in humans go.
It
is even more notable, however, that category D does not exist. Medicines Control
Council (MCC)regulation 25,
under the Medicines and Related Substances Control Act, says that there are
three classifications of medicine: A, intended for use in humans; B, for stuff
that doesn’t work on its own; and C, intended for veterinary use.
There
is no category D. So the pharmacological classification is entirely bogus,
designed only to make this snake oil look like real medicine.
For
the meaning of “Unani Tibb”, we go not to some weird new-age holistic magic
site, but, surprisingly, to the Western CapeUniversity’s “School of Natural Medicine”.
It flogs courses in alternative medicine, andbelongs right up there with South Africa’s
otherschools of witchcraft and
wizardry.
It
claimsthat Unani Tibb is a “complete, scientific and
natural system of medicine”. However, it also admits that two thirds
of “natural medicines”
have no published scientific literature supporting their use. That leaves one
third, for which there is “some published literature”. That hardly sounds
complete and scientific. Frankly, there is “some published literature” for
almost anything.10
Unani
Tibb is based on “temperament”, and divides people into four broad categories:
“sanguinous, phlegmatic, melancholic and bilious”. Ergo, it still believes in
the four “humours”. It turns out that this is based on the 11th-century
writings of Avicenna, a Persian scholar, who in turn took the ideas from the
Greco-Roman writings of Hippocrates and Galen.
The
problem is that all this humour claptrap was scientifically discredited and
superceded in the mid-19th century by the “father of modern pathology”,Rudolf Virchow. Unlike with art, science does
not improve with age, and ancient “science” is not very far removed from
superstitious nonsense. Which is exactly what Unani Tibb is.
According
to the UWC, Unani Tibb includes “regimental therapies” such as cupping and
colour therapy, which have no basis in the credible medical literature.One journal,
dedicated to colour research, treats the subject with sarcasm bordering on
contempt, saying there is “compelling support for applying thecaveat emptorprinciple
to colour psychology and colour therapy claims found in non-academic sources”.
In
other words, this stuff is unscientific bullshit, taught by a supposed
“university”. They should be ashamed of themselves.
This
antibiotic, Septoguard, says its “pharmacological action … is based on the
Unani-Tibb philosophy”. That’s as vague and non-specific as saying aspirin’s
pharmacological action is based on medical theory, except that it has even less
credibility. This makes it clear that there is no science that explains its
action, nor has it been subjected to testing, let alone to large-scale,
randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials.
Often
viewed as a “gold standard” in medical testing, these trials arenot as objective and distortion-free
as one might wish, but they go furthest to eliminate sources of
artefacts and bias in research. So-called natural remediesare
rarely tested for quality, safety, or efficacy, because such testing would
likely show the concoction to be ineffective, or have too many unwanted
side-effects.
As
a result of this lack of testing, Septoguard’s insert says there are no known
side-effects, nor are there symptoms of overdose. This is unlike any real
medicine ever. You canoverdose on water, but not on this magic
concoction! But it you do happen get side-effects, the manufacturers urge you
to go see a real doctor.
The
claims of no side-effects are also implausible because Septoguard does contain
active herbal ingredients. These extracts are impure, containing everything and
anything they can squeeze out of a plant. Sometimes, herbs do contain useful
active ingredients–for example, aspirin is derived
from the bark of a willow tree– but they are also likely to contain
ingredients that have unwanted side-effects.
That’s
the difference between ancient herbal medicine (or “phytotherapy”, as the UWC
likes to call it) and modern pharmacy. Modern pharmacy tries to identify active
ingredients, provide them in a measured dose, and exclude ingredients that do
not contribute towards the desired outcome, thereby eliminating unnecessary
side-effects.
Herbal
medicine, by contrast,can be harmful,
because it has more ingredients, they are often toxic, and their composition
and dose are far less rigorously controlled. The notion that herbal medicine is
somehow safer than modern pharmaceuticals is logically nonsense.
By
definition, an antibiotic, natural or otherwise, is supposed to kill bacteria
and other microbes. This is why oral antibiotics are usually prescribed for a
limited time, because they often cause gastro-intestinal complications: they
kill essential gut microbes just as easily as they kill the microbes that cause
infection.
For
Septoguard, however, things are different. The package insert says you can use
it to treat various infections, but primarily, you should take it as a “daily
health supplement to boost the immunity”. If you’re taking an antibiotic that
you can take every day, indefinitely, without prescription, you’re not taking
an antibiotic. You’re taking a placebo with no known action.
The
Septoguard insert says is has not been evaluated by the Medicines Control
Council. Not that I hold much stock in government bureaucrats. Laws about
medicine classification, evaluation and scheduling do not prevent quacks from
sellingindustrial bleach enemasto the gullible mothers of children,
who proceed to burn out the child’s intestinal lining, fish it out of the
toilet, and post pictures to Facebook, believing them to be the parasites that
supposedly cause autism.
But
not having been evaluated by the Medicines Control Council (MCC) is an
admission that Septoguard has not been tested forquality, safety and efficacy for its intended purpose.
One might hope that the makers appealed to a private alternative for scientific
testing, but there is no claim whatsoever about the product’s quality, safety
or efficacy.
On
the contrary. The insert concludes by saying, “This medicine is not intended to
diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.”
There
we have it. The product’s own insert says it doesn’t work, and is not intended
to work.
Of
course, this statement exploits a legal loophole. By not claiming to be
medicine, it avoids having to be registered as a medicine by the MCC. It does,
however, suggest that the maker has no confidence that the substancewouldpass
tests for quality, safety and efficacy.
Yet
the University of the Western Cape
will teach you all about its scientific underpinnings, and pharmacists will
proudly display it on their shelves, lending it a veneer of respectability that
real medical practitioners ought to be ashamed of.
Septoguard
is, of course, far from the only quackery sold in pharmacies. There are all
sorts of diet concoctions, supplements, and “natural” cures for everything that
would otherwise cost a lifestyle change or the price of a doctor’s visit.
Dis-Chem proudly advertiseshomeopathic remedies, despite the fact that
they consist of nothing but fairy-dust and magic.
As
a reminder, homeopathy is pseudoscience. It hasn’t just not been proven to
work, it has beenproven not to workany better than a placebo. Papers that
appear to conclude the opposite (but were actually inconclusive) have been
soundly discredited.
Homeopathy
holds that “like cures like”. This is, of course, absurd on the face of it.
Supporters like to compare it to vaccines (even though they’re typically
anti-vaxxers) because vaccines appear to be a scientific case of “like cures
like”. But they aren’t, and are nothing like homeopathy. Vaccines have active
ingredients in meaningful concentrations. They work to help the body fight
disease by training the immune system to respond effectively to pathogens. They
cure nothing, and in fact sometimes cause the disease against which they’re
meant to immunise. If you have polio, or smallpox, an additional dose of polio
or smallpox isn’t going to cure you. It’s going to make it worse. A vaccine
would only have helped if you received it before contracting the disease, not
after, as a cure.
Homeopathic
remedies are made from all sorts of poisons. The reason they rarely kill
anyone, however, is because they are diluted so much that none of the original
substance is likely to remain present in the solvent, which is usually water or
ethanol. (The exceptions are cases in which the dilution was not done
correctly.)
To
make it effective, and counter-intuitively make each successive dilution
stronger, homeopaths vigorously shake it to “potentise” it. This has something
to do with the “structure” of water (it has none, on normal timescales), which
gives it “memory”. If it did, of course, it would retain “memory” of a lot of
stuff other than the ingredients the homeopath intended, like sewerage. If it
had any potency at all, it would probably kill you.
There
simply is no plausible scientific explanation for why homeopathy might work,
and it has never been shown to work in large-scale, randomised, double-blind,
placebo-controlled trials.
Herbal
and other untested remedies can have actual harmful effects, but homeopathy’s
harm lies exclusively in convincing people to forgo real medicine, and becoming
sicker or dying when they might have been cured. It ought not to be sold by
responsible pharmacies that claim to act in the best interests of their
customers’ health.
It
is ironic that proponents of various natural and alternative health products so
often accuse the pharmaceutical industry of being craven, greedy corporations
driven by profit above human health. Sure they are. But every business is
driven by profit.
That
is true for pharmacies, but also for naturopathic quackery. This junk gets sold
to ignorant, gullible or desperate people, with no intention of healing them
and every intention of parting them from their money. Most pharmacists will
happily sell you both proven pharmaceuticals and untested quackery, because it
makes a profit.
But
they shouldn’t. When a pharmacist openly admits that some of the stuff on his
shelves doesn’t work, and is overpriced to boot, it is unethical to continue
selling it to ignorant people, desperate for a cure for whatever ails them.
In
fact, the South African Pharmaceutical Council (SAPC), in itsethics rules,
says a pharmacist may not advertise medicines “in any manner that is not
factually correct; that is misleading; or that harms the dignity or honour of
the profession”.
Most
natural and alternative remedies, not to mention slimming products,
muscle-building products, immune-boosting products, vitamins, and countless
other products on the pharmacy shelves, cannot be called “medicine” without
being factually incorrect and misleading. A tiny line in the package insert
that says it isn’t really medicine is not sufficient to change that.
When
there is no credible scientific evidence for the safety and efficacy of a
product, and the package insert even admits this, it should not be on the
shelves of a respectable pharmacist. It should be limited to the shopfronts of
quacks and charlatans. At least when you buy from them, you know you’re not
giving your money to someone who claims to uphold scientific standards.
Of
course, one could make a law about this, but the law is a blunt tool. And it
appears that the statutory SAPC is unable or unwilling to enforce its own
ethical rules.
Instead,
professional associations or patients’ advocacy groups might compete to issue
“ethical pharmacist” certifications, which assure customers that pharmacies do
not sell ineffective or even dangerous quackery. It might appear more
profitable to do so, but only in the sense that fraud and misrepresentation are
“profitable”. In the long run, most people will want to patronise honest
professionals for their healthcare.
I,
for one, find it deeply troublesome that my medicine gets selected from stock
that includes snake oil and magic. This fraud harms people, and ethical
pharmacists should see an end to it.DM
But for the failure of the Modi government’s communications system, the National Medical Commission Bill could have brought healthcare reforms through landmark initiatives
The National Medical Commission Bill, 2017, introduced by the Central Government is– or rather was − a landmark legislation. Succumbing to a powerful lobby of doctors and associations, the Bill has now been diluted. The original Bill was drafted after deep thought, but not properly communicated to the stakeholders. This lack of communication led to the perception that the Bill was being foisted on doctors, medical associations and medical colleges.
This lack of communication and failure to take stakeholders into confidence through dialogues led to changes in the Bill through a series of amendments. This could have been avoided hadrobust and transparent communication lines been first establishedbetween the government and the stakeholders.
The lack of communication is best highlighted in the way the amendments dropped the progressive and intended provision of a “bridge course” for AYUSH practitioners. The thoughtbehind this move was to address the woeful lack of medical practitioners in rural areas. But the perception among doctor communities was that these AYUSH practitioners would be a challenge to practitioners of modern medicine and would replace them or compete with them in medical practice!
The NMC Bill allows practitioners of homoeopathy and Indian systems of medicine to prescribe allopathic medicine on completion of a “bridgecourse”, to address the growing derthdoctors in rural areas.But the government could not communicate the intent behind this move properly. This `cross-pathy’ became a major sticking point, as a person trained in one stream of medicine practising another is specifically disallowed under the current rules.
The best of healthcare ideas just cannot take off if doctors are not available in rural areas. While allopathic doctors arereluctant to practise in rural areas, the lacunae could have been filled by AYUSH practitioners who pass the bridge course and are able to prescribe basic allopathic medicines, first aid, primary care and some treatment at the basic level in the secondary care space.
Let us look at some statistics. Doctors per every 1000 peoplewas just 0.7 in 2012 in India. The figure was 2.5 in the United States and 1.9 in China. If India has to cope with global challenges on the healthcare front by 2020, the number of physicians has to increase from 0.7 per 1000 of the population to 1.50 – an increase of 114 percentage points. How can this be done without innovative ideas like allowing AYUSH doctors to prescribe basic medicines? If China could introduce barefoot doctors, why can't India have AYUSH doctors who are not barefoot, but ‘booted’ with knowledge of medicine?
In fact, in its 92nd report (submitted in March 2016), the Parliamentary Standing Committee for Health and Family Welfare examined MCI’s (Medical Council of India)functioning, and identified the failure of IMA (Indian Medical Association) to produce adequate doctors. If the Modigovernment’s laudable idea of creating a Healthy India by 2020 under Ayushman Bharat has to succeed, more doctorsare neededin rural areas and not hurdles or turf protection by vested interests.
The other objection to the Bill was the replacement of the MCI with NMC. The Parliamentary Standing Committeehad said in its 92nd report that the MCI had failed to addressthe issues of shortage of teachers in medical colleges; poor regulation of undergraduate and postgraduate medical education; opacity and alleged corruption in the functioning of the regulator and its lack of accountability and failure to discharge mandated responsibilities; and the prevalence of capitation fees in private medical colleges in violation of the law.
The committee observed that “currently the MCI is an exclusive club of medical doctors as the IMC Act does not call for diversity of backgrounds in the members” and that “across the world, a perspective has gained ground that self-regulation alone does not work because medical associations have fiercely protected their turf and any group consisting entirely of members from the same profession is unlikely to promote and protect public interest over and above their own self-interest”. There was a need for “check-and-balance mechanisms”, the committee said, apart from “inputs from people with excellence and competence in other disciplines”.
Doctors managing doctors is clearly a case of conflict of interest. World over, medical bodies have been best managed by professionals from diverse administrative fields. India cannot be an exception if the ills plaguing the medical system have to be addressed. This should have been clearly and firmly put across through proper communication and dialogue.
Instead of succumbing to pulls and pressures, the government should have taken three steps in communication: opened dialogue and invited inputs in the pre-Bill stage; crystallised key features of the Bill and put it out for debate and dialogue and thirdly, presented the Bill as a consensus document by wiping out the sticky points through hard facts and figures.
An ‘effective communications mechanism’ to present the true perspective would have rendered the NMC Bill a ‘landmark’ Bill. Having been overlooked, the NMC Bill probably faces a big hindrance in transforming the healthcare sector in Indiaeffectively. The Bill in its current form, is like ‘old wine in a new bottle’. It is another big opportunity lost by the Modigovernment to bring in transformation in the true sense.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article above are those of the authors' and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of this publishing house. Unless otherwise noted, the author is writing in his/her personal capacity. They are not intended and should not be thought to represent official ideas, attitudes, or policies of any agency or institution.
