No bones about it !
Bone-setters have been included in NRHM to overcome acute lack of doctors in Nagaland
Faced with an acute shortage of medical doctors, the
Nagaland government is now encouraging traditional systems of medicine
to provide healthcare to its people. This is being done by including
traditional healthcare practitioners in the National Rural Health
Mission (NRHM) under the AYUSH (ayurveda, yoga, unani, siddha and
homoeopathy) system.
While most systems of
alternative medicines are integrated in the NRHM, Nagaland government
has also included bone-setting under the system. Bone-setting is an art
that is passed on from generation to generation.
``We
have a strong system of traditional medicines and people accept these
systems very well,'' Dr Yangerlemla, Principal Director, Department of
Health and Family Welfare (Nagaland) said, adding that it was a
conscious decision to incorporate bone-setters in the health stream.
There
is a great demand for orthopaedics in Nagaland as falls and accidents
are common in this mountainous terrain. Traditional healers applying
locally made herbs and setting broken and dislocated bones within
minutes is a common sight. “Not all these cases may be successful in
treating patients but are, more or less, known to be very effective. So
we have decided to make the method more hygienic and acceptable by
training the traditional practitioners,” Dr Yangerlemla said.
Each
of the 11 districts in Nagaland has about 15-20 bone setters who will
be trained under the NRHM and integrated into the mainstream healthcare
system.
At present Nagaland has only 400-odd MBBS
doctors but requires 800 more such doctors. However, there is a blanket
ban on appointment of regular doctor since 1998. Appointments are made
only on contractual basis which does not attract doctors who prefer to
move out and serve in the neighbouring States or bigger cities.
There
is no medical college in Nagaland but it has 40 medical undergraduate
seats from the Central quota. It is mandatory for students to serve in
the State for five years after completion of the medical course if the
government can provide them regular employment. But, since the
government cannot provide them employment, these doctors prefer to move
out of the State. As far as the specialists are concerned, there are
only seven eye specialists and nine gynaecologists in the entire State.
Worse,
difficult terrain and lack of facilities does not attract professionals
to serve in the rural areas despite the State government paying Rs
60,000 per month to those willing to serve in the far-flung areas. Bad
roads, lack of telecommunication and interrupted power and water supply
makes functioning for the doctors impossible. There are also no vehicles
for doctors which makes them immobile.
Under the AYUSH system, there are seven doctors serving under the AYUSH and 29 have been appointed on contractual basis.
There
are 396 health sub-centres, 126 primary health centres and 21 community
health centres with very few private practitioners. The few private
practitioners available are in cities such as Kohima and Dimapur.
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