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Written By: Editorial Team | Updated : April 5, 2018 3:56 PM IST
People today want to reduce the use of allopathy as much as possible. And while the world is fighting medical issues like antibiotic resistance, it is high time we look out for alternative medicines. Ayurveda which is an age-old system of natural healing is becoming popular and showing great results. This World Health Day, the theme is universal health coverage and Ayurveda has a lot to offer.
Going the herbal way ensure no side-effects of the treatment plus has a lot of potentials. In accord with this year's theme of Universal Health Coverage, Dr P Ram Manohar who is the Research Director of Amrita Centre for Advanced Research in Ayurveda, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Kerala, says that 'Ayurveda can contribute to universal health coverage at multiple levels. It can offer alternatives for the management of diseases where modern medical care is not accessible or affordable, from anaemia, skin diseases and osteoarthritis to rheumatoid arthritis and even certain cancers. It can reduce the economic burden of long-term care by offering integrative approaches to improve clinical outcomes. In quite a few diseases, Ayurveda can also offer frontline therapy at an affordable cost. At the level of primary healthcare, traditional medical knowledge for the management of minor ailments and preventive healthcare can empower people to address unmet needs where modern care is unavailable. AYUSH treatments are very cost effective when practised in the context of primary health care and local health traditions.'
India is one of the few countries in the world where medical pluralism prevails. People have access to officially recognised alternative systems of health including age-old traditions like Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani. However, practitioners of different medical systems are confined in their own silos and compete rather than cooperate professionally to provide integrative care to patients. The significant contributions that the workforce and resources of the AYUSH sector can make towards UHC need to be recognised by all stakeholders.'
