When Health Our Care System Subservient to Religion…….

The call of our Honorable Prime Minister of India to the global leaders during his visit to the US to take part in Nuclear Security Summit to separate terrorism from religion serves also the need to separate religion from politics, science and health care system at home.

When our Honorable Prime Minister sends such meaningful message to wake up the global leaders to separate religion from terrorism, the same message comes to us as a Roman mythological hero - The Two Headed Janus.

In India too, we must separate religion urgently from science and health care practice.

In India, AYUSH enjoys an exalted position as medical science owing to its religious origin than any real scientific credential. Certainly patriotism, politics, and enormous commercial interest prevail in the promotion of AYUSH as medical science than it having any drug that will meet either the simple definition of ‘drug’ or have any ‘proven curative effect’.

But we have allowed AYUSH to inundate the tenets of science and health care system by promoting it as medical science. The real science of the fundamental principle of AYUSH – Tridosha, its usefulness, how and where it can be measured or other aspects such as the diagnostic procedures, disease descriptions etc., remain a mystery even today despite the popular claim that AYUSH is 2000 to 5000 years old. The question is why no one could explain the science of AYUSH that has 5000-year-old legacy?

AYUSH practices have evolved only as an extension of religion and divine miracle. If we carefully look at the origin of Siddha system we can easily understand the truth that it was developed by Siddhars for the purpose of attaining Siddhi or divine abode.

To attain Siddhi, one has to be immortal & healthy and hence Siddhars have evolved several practices using all those substances that were available in nature. Ayurveda also has a similar origin. Both the systems are claimed to be gifted to humanity by none other than Lord himself.

Since independence, in the name of patriotism, religion and divinity, several proponents of AYUSH have been advocating various branches of AYUSH as wonderful medical science. In fact, they have succeeded remarkably in getting the status and position to AYUSH as a system of medicine equal to the scientifically proven allopathic medicine.

The proponents of AYUSH could adopt western model of education to AYUSH. AYUSH has copied and mimicked the style of the scientifically proven allopathic system of medicine in its curriculum but, unfortunately, missed in the content.

The MBBS course is 5 ½ years and so is the AYUSH, it also copied and made its curriculum to 5 ½ years. MBBS curriculum when changed into three semesters, so was AYUSH. MBBS curriculum when introduced 1-year internship, so was AYUSH. Subsequently, when they reduced the period of internship to 6 months; AYUSH too copied the same immediately. MBBS education got nine departments, so was AYUSH. They got 65 staff, so was AYUSH. “What a shameless copying” the above comments were made by none other than the famous Ayurveda expert Dr. GG Gangadharan of FRLHST. Parallel to MCI, AYUSH go CCIM, parallel to CDSCO, they got Department of AYUSH and now Ministry of AYUSH parallel to MH&FW, parallel to AIMS, they got NIS (National Institute of Siddha) etc.

But unfortunately, AYUSH could not have single drug equal to the effect of the popular OTC preparation – Crocin or the anti-allergic drug – Cetirizine. The big question is can we allow such faith and religion based practice to continue as a system of medicine along the side of scientifically proven allopathic system?

The above question does not doubt or question the limited usefulness of AYUSH in offering some paramedical benefit. Certainly some of the approaches of AYUSH are useful to improve the quality of life. But we must differentiate ‘drug’ based system from paramedical therapy/system. Like food and water, many AYUSH products may have some medicinal value. But such values will never make them ‘drug’ to treat diseases.

Our dismal failure to recognize and respect the above truth only has put AYUSH in a tight corner. We have produced a large number of AYUSH graduates from such tradition based paramedical practice as a medical practitioner and to later call themselves as a doctor.

But our religious fervor and patriotism over AYUSH could not help the institutionally qualified AYUSH vaidyas in private practice to treat patients exclusively with AYUSH products. As a result, most of them have secretly and or openly have encroached allopathy and are engaged in rampant cross pathy.

Maybe knowing fully well about the tyranny of AYUSH vaidyas in private practice and the paramedical not the medical value of AYUSH, most of the AYUSH fraternity in Government establishment prefers to follow blind, mute and deaf towards cross pathy.

Should we not separate religion and tradition from science and health care system? Just by separating religion from terrorism, perhaps we may find a solution to global terrorism. But are we not terrorizing our health care system and science by allowing the religious practices and ancient tradition to pose and position itself as wonderful drug and cure based medical science? Should we not recognize the above and separate religion from science and health care system? Should we not rename AYUSH as Indian Traditional Medicine and promote it for the paramedical benefit.

Can we globalize and generalize somebody who has got some benefit from AYUSH and hence it is proven medical science?
The concern and question assume great importance because a large proportion of the population in rural India is uneducated, poor and helpless. One of the research articles published in Lancet has shown that close to 40% of cancer patients in India first opts alternative treatment and would consult the oncologists almost at a terminal stage where the oncologist could do little.

By promoting AYUSH as drug and cure based medical science, are we not allowing many poor people to over judge the merit and scope of AYUSH and risk their life by worsening their health problems? Are we not directly allowing ‘medication health fraud’ to thrive, nourish and grow in our country?

Is the call of our Honorable Prime Minister to separate religion from terrorism is only meant for global leaders or the present Government must clearly define the boundary of AYUSH and end cross pathy?

Dr. S Ranganathan