Alternative medicines systems step in where conventional fails

 

 

The impact of globalisation has provided modern amenities to a particular class and has also created lot of problems. The consumerism has brought such changes in lifestyle. Most of such diseases are its product and can be cured by simple changes in lifestyle. Interestingly, Allopathy has been unsuccessful in curing most of these.

The recently gained popularity of the Indian Traditional Medicine System and Homeopathy has affected the government as well as the people. The Health Ministry reports claim that 60% of Indians are relying on alternative medicine systems. The country boasts of some seven lakh trained traditional medicine experts.

The major concern is that epidemics and killer diseases are staging a comeback. Several lifestyle diseases have been declared incurable. Many of these have turned in to epidemics. So much so that the powerful Allopathic system is increasingly failing to face the challenge. This is why inclination towards traditional medicine and homeopathy has increased.

Dr Hiroshi Nakajima, ex-Director General of WHO, had admitted that in spite of all the technical progress, we are caught in the clutches of killer diseases. High blood-pressure, diabetes, AIDS and TB are considered epidemics now. The problem is compounded by the fact that around 20% of world’s populace is leading life below the poverty-line. As many as 33% of the children are malnourished, while around 50% of the population has limited or no access to essential medicines.

pty can in hand. According to the data furnished by World Health Report (2000), the population of developing pockets of Africa, Asia and Latin America will see a 90% rise by the year 2010. Ironically, these pockets are the most vulnerable to diseases such as Malaria, TB, Yellow Fever, Dengue, Bird-Flu and SARS. Due to massive cut in the health budget in these countries, there are chances that the public health system will collapse, leading to revival of epidemics. The problem is compounded by the fact that Allopathy is increasingly becoming ineffective. The organisation indicated that an Allopathy overdose is making diseases – causing parasite immune to the medicines. At least 39 new diseases have sprouted in the last two decades. Most of these have no known cures and neither does these have and preventive medicine. The only positive point is that traditional medicines are capable to take these diseases. It’s high time they are given their due status.

In fact, traditional medicines focus on the element of ‘prevention’ only. Most of the lifestyle related diseases are completely curable through traditional medicines. Health Ministry in India has decided to include traditional medicines in its Rural Health Scheme, on a large scale. The Department of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) recently organised workshops where it stressed on the use of traditional medicines. It is providing some remarkable results. The health ministry is taking the help of Ayurveda for Fistula and Old-age related diseases, Naturopathy for psychological diseases amd Homeopathy for birth related complexities.

Traditional medicine systems are not only effective but are also scientific. They are best suited for a country like India. These are not only easily accessible but are inexpensive at the same time. To give an example, while a regular kidney-stone surgery in Allopathy costs around 20,000, the same can be cured in Homeopath or Ayurveda for as less as Rs 200 to 1000. These systems are facing problems due to uncooperative attitude of government planners. It's high time we understood the importance of these indigenous medicine systems and took steps to make them accessible to the common-man. It is time we woke up or multinationals will patent all our traditional ingredients of medicines and will rake moolah while we will be left with an em