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The Indian Medical Association slammed the Centre’s move that amended rules to introduce formal surgical training for postgraduate students of Shalya (general) and Shalakya (ENT, Dental, Opthalmic etc) specializations, calling it a “retrograde step” and demanded that the move be withdrawn.
I decided to present my opinion on the matter by dividing it in two parts here.
For the first part, let us look at the present reach of the Modern Healthcare System in India. Over 50% of Rural India and over 30% of Urban India continues to have zero or limited access to modern health care medicine or infrastructure. As if that were not enough, the abysmal standards of several public healthcare facilities let alone the questionable quality of the healthcare providers deter the general populace from availing these facilities.
There major factors that plague the Modern Healthcare System in India are Privatization, Reservation and Corruption. Sadly, Healthcare in India is measured in economic terms and not in terms of its quality or reach. Healthcare is big business. From Private Medical Colleges to private hospitals and nursing homes to private investment in the pharma space, a social enterprise has turned to a money making machine.
From medical degrees available for a price, to pathetic standards of academic institutions for medical instruction, to poor quality of student admissions and pass-outs, to a completely unregulated healthcare sector that enables quacks and substandard medical practitioners to flourish; it is no surprise that people often look to alternate forms of therapy and medicine.
Alleged cases of money laundering, big pharma research, organ trading etc. in the name of medical tourism is another worry to contend with in India.
Logically therefore, Indian Medical Association needs all the help it can get in the field of medicine and Ayurveda is a proven ally.
Coming to the second part of my answer, Ayurveda is the oldest documented form of medical system in the world. Modern science and healthcare system borrows heavily from the Ayurvedic branch of knowledge and healing. From analgesics to organ transplants, several surgical processes documented in Ayurvedic texts are used in modern medical science.
India
has always seen a healthy co-existence of several forms of medicine and
therapy. Ayurveda, Unani Homeopathy, Biochemic, and Allopathic forms of medicine
have all contributed their part in the health and well-being of Indians. Ayurveda
is the only other branch of medical science that has such a specialized branch
of invasive and surgical medical knowledge and procedure that can parallel modern
medicine apart from being 100% Indian.
Whilst the western world recognizes and scrambles to learn the rich knowledge of Ayurveda, unnecessary political in-fighting and vested economic interests have spurred outrage against Ayurveda, in India. 4 out of the 5 forms of medicine mentioned above are or foreign origin but there is hardly any outcry against their efficacy. This selective outrage, at best, is reminiscent of the white supremacy syndrome that has plagued India and Indians in general for centuries.
Ayurveda has not only stood the test of time but will continue to do so as long as free-will exists.