Don't prescribe ayurvedic drugs: KAHMA asks allopathic doctors

Chennai: The Kerala Ayurvedic Hospital Management Association (KAHMA) has asked government to take measures to check allopathic doctors from prescribing ayurvedic medicines for certain diseases and ask them to prescribe only modern drugs for all the treatments.

The KAHMA members further said that quack medical practitioners from all the healthcare practice should be banned in order to establish the reputation of that particular stream.

 

KAHMA members further opined that all the medical practitioners- allopathic or ISM - should remain confined to their discipline only ensure the credibility of each system. KAHMA asked doctors of ayurveda in ISM sector to take this issue to the attention of the National Huma

Rights Commission (NHRC).

The ayurvedic physicians belonging to KAHMA were reacting to a story by Pharmabiz, a pharma portal, that mentioned a human right activists letter to the NHRC that stated that a section of ayurvedic doctors in Kerala are prescribing modern drugs to their patients. The activist had support of the Kerala based Qualified Private Medical Practitioners Association (QPMPA).

KAHMA further said that their complaint also needs to be taken to the NHRC as both the issues are of same nature.

Dr A Induchoodan, the spokesman of the KAHMA, said that the government should establish institutions to restore surgery in Ayurvedic system. According to him establishment of ‘Ayurvedic Surgery Research Institute’ will be a step to improve the surgical procedures prescribed in the Indian system of medicine. “Today is the era of equal opportunity to all. So the present generation of ayurvedic practitioners, who are kept away from surgery practice, is asking for equal rights to practice medical science. For this, the union government and the state governments have to frame rules to include surgery practice in the ayurvedic system,” he was quoted as saying.

Dr Induchoodan further emphasized that medical equipment and surgical devices are not for allopathic practitioners only and any medical system based on their own science or philosophy can use it for their stream. He also deliberated on how colonial rule in India had destroyed the country’s ancient ayurvedic system by inducting an encouraging allopathy. The other reason behind its downfall is the Brahmin ayurvedic physicians distaste from surgery.

Dr Sreevals G Menon, national secretary of Indian Homoeopathic Medical Association said that the NHRC interventions would free the Ayush system from the clutches of malpractitioners. He further said that prescribing allopathic medicines by ayurvedic doctors would spoil the credibility of this ancient Indian system of medicines. 

Coutesy news : News Track India

ICTPH works with field partner in Thanjavur to test concepts of primary healthcare and its integration

Nandita Vijay, Bangalore Tuesday, September 06, 2011, 08:00 Hrs  [IST]

IKP Centre for Technologies in Public Health (ICTPH), a non-governmental organization(NGO), is working with a field based partner in Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu to field-test its concepts on provision of primary care and integration of care across higher levels. The changes that would be necessary in the overall health systems design if we are to succeed in providing high quality health care requires four complementary dimensions covering  human resources,  infrastructure, interventions  and  financing, stated Dr Nachiket Mor, director,  IKP Centre for Technologies in Public Health (ICTPH) and head, Sughavazhvu Healthcare in Thanjavur. “Over time we hope to expand the number of engagement partners.  On the research and training front, we have partnered with the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, University of Washington’s Brown School of Social Work and Public Health, Adyar Cancer Institute in Chennai, and L. V. Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad.  These initiatives will allow us to move closer to a vision of universal and high quality healthcare for all within the financial and human resources available, stated Dr Mor, who was in Bangalore recently for the  TB Diagnostics in India Conference held at St. John’s Research Institute. India needs an Essential Health System and Design Innovation. The country has a  low supply of physicians that are qualified in allopathic medicine and the few that are qualified are unwilling to serve in remote and challenging locations.  The  disease burden continues to have a high proportion of infectious diseases like  tuberculosis and other  chronic diseases, said Dr. Mor. As a member of the Union government’s High Level Expert Committee on Universal Health Care, Dr Mor is of the view that India could have access to affordable and quality healthcare only if  radical changes are made in the manner in which this sector  is financed. Primary healthcare must be available close to where people live. In addition, higher levels of care, while easily available and accessible to citizens, must be closely integrated with primary care and focused on the whole individual . The  financing, risk sharing and referral mechanisms must act in work to ensure that this happens.  Spain in the developed world and Thailand in the developing world are health systems models which India should emulate in healthcare. The research work being carried out at ICTPH is dedicated to developing viable models for making this vision a reality in the Indian context. While viable solutions do exist they need to be found with multiple components of design working closely together.  India has done a relatively good job of addressing challenges at the secondary and tertiary care level, as evidenced by the growing medical tourism industry, on the twin dimensions of provision of Primary care and integration of care across higher levels. The focus of ICTPH’s will be on  human resources strategies, advanced point of care diagnostics, health management information systems, and expert architectural designs. These components  have the potential to dramatically transform the provision of primary healthcare and the integration of care across levels, she stated.