Traditional Medicine in Asia

Traditional Medicine in Asia
least one physician from the Indian Systems
of Medicine and Homoeopathy (ISM&H)
should be available in every primary health
centre in every state and that vacancies
caused by non-availability of allopathic
personnel should be filled by ISM&H
physicians. The Council also resolved that
specialist treatment centres for ISM&H
should be introduced in rural hospitals and
a wing should be created in the existing
state and district-level Government
hospitals so that the benefits of these
systems are made available to the general
public, according to their choice. It has
also been resolved that expenses on
treatment received in traditional medicine
hospitals should be recognized for
reimbursement as is already permitted in
the case of Central Government
employees. All these measures have been
recommended to all state governments and
the action taken thereon is regularly
monitored at the central level.
Mainstreaming Indian Systems of
Medicine and Homoeopathy for
Population Stabilization
The Government of India has adopted a
‘National Population Policy 2000’ and, for
the first time, a Chapter has been
introduced on mainstreaming the Indian
Systems of Medicine and Homoeopathy
(ISM&H). The Policy seeks to use the
institutionally qualified practitioners of
ISM&H (who have completed a five-anda-half-year
degree) and utilize their services
to fill the gaps in manpower at appropriate
levels in the health infrastructure. The Policy
also seeks to increase utilization of ISM
institutions, dispensaries and hospitals for
health and population-related programmes.
What is particularly noteworthy is
that the Policy advocates the use of tried
and tested ISM medicines at the village and
household level.
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The Government of India has set up a
Population Commission to address the
whole issue of population stabilization. The
Commission has further set up a High
Powered Advisory Group on Mainstreaming
of Indian Systems of Medicine and
Homoeopathy (ISM&H) into the health
system. The terms of reference seek to:
� Review the status of Reproductive and
Child Health (RCH) services extended
by ISM&H practitioners, their infrastructure
and personnel;
� Identify areas where ISM&H practitioners
can be used more effectively by
upgrading their knowledge and skills;
� Select effective ISM&H practices which
can augment the existing RCH approach;
� Specify significant legislative, administrative
and schematic changes which
need to be introduced to achieve the
objective of utilizing ISM&H and their
practitioners to the best advantage.
This is the first time that a separate
high-powered group has been set up for
using the strategies of ISM in population
stabilization, a major area of focus for the
Indian Government.
Integration of Traditional
Medicine into the Reproductive
and Child Health Programme
For the first time, drugs of the Ayurvedic
and Unani systems have been incorporated
into the kits of nurses and midwives
in the sub-centres of seven states and four
cities, to be extended to the whole country
later. The same drugs are also to be made
available in the kits of female extension
workers in over 5,00,000 centres
providing supplementary nutrition to
pregnant and lactating women and
children below six years. The traditional
drugs have been selected to take care of
common problems and are being centrally
procured and tested before being added