Minister K Sudhakar swears by Hindu practices of wellness

Bengaluru: Emphasising on learning the Hindu way of life and adopting ancient practices of wellness, Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar said he will bring in policies to introduce a holistic and comprehensive healthcare system in the state.

In an interview to PTI, Sudhakar, who is a medical practitioner, said, "One should learn the Hindu way of life. One should go back to our ancient practices so far as wellness is concerned."

"I am moving ahead to introduce this (ancient practices of wellness) in Bengaluru and Karnataka in a holistic and comprehensive manner. I am bringing in new policies," he said.

Sudhakar further said he would stress on prevention of diseases such as diabetes, cancer, hypertension etc. To a query on the lessons learnt during the Covid-19 pandemic, Sudhakar said the health sector was 'neglected' all these decades.

Lamenting that the spending on public healthcare by all the previous governments had taken a backseat, he said this is an area where he would like to focus.

"We need to build a robust healthcare system, especially when primary and secondary healthcare should be robust. We should focus more on prevention of a disease," Sudhakar said.

Asked whether Ayurveda was of any help during the pandemic, the minister said he was not armed with any medical evidence to prove that it works the way allopathy does. "I don't know whether Ayurveda and Unani have the same protocols as allopathy, but I know for a fact that Ayurveda is a great science, very ancient science, which works.

All diseases cannot have the same protocol of treatment," he added.

The infection and mortality in Karnataka has come down drastically from over 10,500 fresh cases and over 200 deaths a day to somewhere between 2,000 and 2,500 infections and 20 to 30 deaths a day.

Asked how it was reduced, the minister said after eight months with the virus, the medical world has developed a line of treatment after many trial-and-errors.

"Since it is almost eight months now, a structured and specific treatment protocol has been achieved," he said.