FATE OF AYURVEDA DOCTORS ???
This is in reference to your budget that was presented a
week before or so, where Indian System of Medicine, Ayurveda was given the
least or negligible importance. Ayurveda is India is under the regulation of
AYUSH under the ministry of health. This is not only a concerned plea regarding
the approach towards Ayurveda, which pioneered the whole concept of Medical
Tourism in India, which in Kerala alone is to be worth 4billion $ by 2017, but
regarding the fate of Health Sector in our country. Indian Health Care system
is just a nominal health care system, there is not enough hospitals, doctors,
medical staffs medicines or ambulance services available in the
country.Quallity of care and accessibility is very poor. Most of the people
depend on private hospitals for health care except very poor people, who depend
upon government hospitals because they cant afford private out of pocket health
care. This system cant be called a health care system on western perspective.
Although the initiative of distributing free over the counter drugs is welcome,
my concern is about providing expert care in rural areas. The role played by
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in elevating the health status of China and
the steps taken by Chinese governments to endorse it has benifitted it very
well. The New Rural Cooperative Medical Care System , a 2005 initiative, with
an investment of 2.4 billion US $ from the Chinese govt to be spent over a
period of five years primarily was meant at over hauling the private medical
systems, for which the TCM played a huge role in giving essential services to
the rurals, with them being equppied with necessary western methods of
treatment especially in handling emergencies.Today TCM continues to be a part
of all major and minor hospitals in China even though the integration level
varies in different hospitals and it is to be accepted that the process is
still not smooth one. The Modern and Traditional methods don’t easily merge !
China is also a witness to mass mobilisation campaings for health and patriotic
health campaigns for the eradication of epidemics. Barefoot doctors from people
commune are a part of history ! They stand as a testimony to health care
development in China with them being trained equally in Traditional and Modern
medicine. Such a spate of affair is totally lacking in India. The Modern
hospitals don’t have an Ayurvedic wing, and even government hospitals don’t
have it ! Here Modern and Ayurvedic medicine are treated separately, and only
MBBS graduates are considered to be fit for treating patients. They (allopaths
in india)are totally ignorant of the theories of Ayurveda yet prescribe a wide
variety of patent ayurvedic propreitary medicines for all sorts of diseases.
There is no major hospital that exists in India that has its reputation for
giving quality ayurvedic treatment , that is run by the central or state govts,
other than that under the colleges which can be counted with our fingers. So
the need for putting more hospitals all over the map is a genuine one, and the
effect of ayurveda in treating chronic diseases of all kinds is now world
famous. So it is a bit of a costly mistake to not to make quality ayurveda a
reality, orlese just like the british took away our kohinoor, this system is
also gonna be lost to foreigners who seem to welcome it with both hands. Steps
must be taken to provide free and cheap treatment to the poor so they can affor
d ayurvedic medicines. In the name of Medical tourism we must not sell Ayurveda
to foreigners, we must first cater to the indigenous needs , then look up !
Strict controls and regulations for preparation of medicines, their distribution, running hospitals,
medical health centres, parlours must be brought into the control of government
institutions. The ayurveda must be brought out from the clutches of big private
companies and monopoly must be eliminated, by creating more govt run medicine
production units and hospitals. Sure any measure in promoting ayurveda at the
grassroots level will be welcome by the ayurvedic community, and we wish you
all success in your endeavours.
