The autoimmune disease of India’s health care system - are we faithless to faithful

The difference between philosophy and science is difficult to explain theoretically. Many questions that might appear philosophical have yielded scientific explanations and become science while some philosophical questions lost out from the race to become scientific and hence remain as a philosophy because they were notional, presumptive and imaginary in nature.

The countries like Greece, Rome, China, India, UK etc., have produced several philosophers and thinkers of world class. All these philosophers have indirectly contributed to science through raising tough questions to human consciousness. When we could find answers to the philosophical questions, it becomes a science.

Although philosophy and science at macrocosm may show great similarity and interdependence but are indeed different as the former stands on notions, presumptions, and hypothesis while the later on evidence, reproducibility and authenticity.

The mixing of tradition, philosophy and faith with science and converting such ‘hybrid concept’ as drug, diagnosis, and cure based medical science has deeply affected our health care system as an autoimmune disease. Many of such unscientific practices and products that come to patients as drug cause medication health fraud, prolonged suffering, delay in diagnosis, unnecessary wastage of money, possibility of the diseases to spread to others in the society and also might be affecting the performances of proven allopathic drugs. Many herbal products are proven to affect the efficacy of allopathic drugs.

Some of the ancient health care practices may have small health benefits like massage therapy, YOGA etc. The ancient health care practices have a high level of philosophy not science in them. But we have converted such faith-based practices and the philosophical notions (that cannot be proved or substantiated by any stretch of human imagination or scientific tool) - AYUSH as medical science, drug, diagnosis and cure based system. Further, we have also produced a large number of graduates from such system as a doctor.

Doing all the above as gratitude or tribute to our ancient tradition may hold full merit and justification from a political angle. But our adventurous patriotism in giving ‘medical science’ status to AYUSH will never justify our patriotism scientifically, but it justifies only our callousness, indifference and lack of scientific approach towards rural health care.

Validating AYUSH philosophy to prove its scientific merit is fine. But converting some philosophical and spiritual elements as proven science and gifting them to innocent and impecunious people who suffer the worst backwardness in literacy can take our health care system only Devonian or Silurian age and not to Digital world as envisaged by our Honorable Prime Minister.

Are we not really going faithless to all those faithful patients of AYUSH? By making people believe in most of the ineffective products as drugs and secretly ensures the curative effects through cross pathy (allopathic drugs), are we doing anything good to AYUSH or to the poor people? Then why we need AYUSH as medical science?

The point of the argument is not to bury or burn off AYUSH. But do not gift it as medical science to our nation or legalize cross pathy in the name of meeting shortages of MBBS doctors in rural India.

AYUSH is indeed paramedical in its origin, content and message. Today, the paramedical AYUSH with the medical status is doing more harm than any good. The gory of cross pathy by many institutionally qualified AYUSH vaidyas in private practice is affecting our health care system like how autoimmune diseases affect our health perennially and progressively. Cross pathy and quackery are corroding our health care system like the disease - Necrotizing fasciitis. We are residing on fast submerging island caring nothing, fearing nothing.

If we bring all traditional health care practices like Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani, Naturopathy, YOGA etc., under the title ‘Indian Traditional Medicine’ and grant all the graduates and traditional practitioners of the above systems to offer wide range of paramedical health care services to our society, our society will richly benefit from AYUSH. By declaring AYUSH and all the above-associated health care practices as the paramedical wealth of our nation and the rule is simplified to allow everyone to provide the paramedical care of AYUSH, we can increase the health care provider base for helping people to remain healthy.

For cure and treatment, the patients can be referred to MBBS doctors.

AYUSH must be removed from D&C act and AYUSH products require only simple quality regulation and not drug regulation as they are not drugs but are paramedical substances.

When we produce graduates from faith-based AYUSH as a doctor without any effective drugs from the system, naturally the vaidyas in private practice would dwell, encroach, trespass and pilferage everything from allopathic system and would engage in cross pathy for own survival. Who suffers the worst from such practice, only the poor patients and the system that receives huge financial support from Government? It is taxpayers and poor people suffer the worst.

Why do we allow such autoimmune disease to spread and become incurable? Why can’t we recognize the truth that AYUSH is paramedical health practice and not a drug, diagnosis and cure based system? Why can’t we promote AYUSH for paramedical care and help the healthy people to remain healthy than allowing them to fall ill and then fail to provide treatment or blame the ‘truth’ that we lack sufficient MBBS doctors in rural service?

It is not more drugs and more doctors, better living condition, sufficient health care awareness, lifestyle suited for our reality etc., are important to contain our disease burden. Treatment comes only as the consequence of our failure to provide good drinking water facility, ecosystem free of pollutants, better sanitation measures, health awareness etc. We have huge AYUSH resource to provide such measures to villages in every nook and corner of India. Instead of what must do and what we can sensibly do, we are in an effort to legalize quackery and cross pathy by AYUSH vaidyas in private practice.

Time has come all those faithful lots of AYUSH must question the science, justification and logic of cross pathy and how with allopathic drugs, the efficacy of AYUSH products can be established?

It is like providing a Siddha product claimed to cure pain- Neer kovai math Hirai, along with acetaminophen. Naturally, the patient will get relief, but does the patient know the truth about how he or she got such relief?

The hype and claim over such AYUSH products are lavish and luxuriant, but need allopathic drugs to sustain its falsehood!!! Maybe this biting truth only makes everyone in the AYUSH fold to remain silent on cross pathy. Maybe not to get exposed, smartly people argue the concept of integrated medical care and offering the best to patients from every stream of medical system etc.

Have we established and obtained credible scientific data on how AYUSH products when given along with allopathic drugs, benefit the patients?

Do we have single research article from any of the AYUSH research centers that receive huge funding from Government in world's leading scientific journals like Lancet, Nature, Science, Nature, PNAS etc.?

Let us need not be faithful to the faithful but let us not go faithless to all those faithful people who believe AYUSH will give solace and peace to their health problems. Let us ensure the best from AYUSH and not pseudo-science and false promises to innocent people.

Dr. S. Ranganathan