INDIA'S TRADITIONAL systems of medicine have seen increased focus in the last decade. The country currently relies on the practitioners of these systems, dubbed AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Homeopathy and Sowa Rigpa), to improve healthcare coverage.
Last July, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Bharati Pravin Pawar, announced in the Rajya Sabha that the country had reached a doctor-population ratio of 1:834, which is better than the World Health Organization (WHO)'s recommended ratio of 1:1,000. This ratio, said Pawar, was achieved by "assuming 80 per cent availability of registered allopathic doctors [a total of 1.3 million] and 565,000 AYUSH doctors" in the country.
If one were to only consider 80 per cent availability of the 1.3 million allopathic doctors for a population of 1.24 billion (as per Census 2011), the doctor-patient ratio would translate to 1:1,194, notes a December 2022 article in The Print.
Even as the Centre bets big on AYUSH practitioners-a majority of whom practise Ayurveda-the system currently in place in the country only raises concerns, particularly on the quality of education offered.
QUESTION OF STANDARD
Dedicated Ayurveda colleges in India have been on a rise, from 35 colleges in the 1940s to 453 colleges as of May 2022, says data with the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM) under the Union AYUSH ministry. Of these, 352 institutes are private. However, these colleges are currently set up via a procedure that even the government has repeatedly questioned over the last two decades.
Esta historia es de la edición July 16, 2023 de Down To Earth.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición July 16, 2023 de Down To Earth.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
In leading role again
MOVIES AND WEB SERIES ARE ONCE AGAIN BEING SET IN RUSTIC BACKGROUNDS, INDICATING A RECONNECT BETWEEN CINEMA AND THE COUNTRYSIDE
One Nation One Subscription comes at a huge cost
As top US universities scrap big deals with top scientific publishers, India’s ONOS scheme seems flawed and outdated
Return of Rambhog
Bid to revive and sell the aromatic indigenous paddy variety has led to substantial profits for farmers in Uttar Pradesh's Terai region
Scarred by mining
Natural springs of Kashmir drying up due to illegal riverbed mining
Human-to-human spread a mutation away
CANADA IN mid-November confirmed its first human case of avian influenza, with a teenager in the British Columbia being hospitalised after contracting the H5N1 virus that causes the disease. The patient developed a severe form of the disease, also called bird flu, and had respiratory issues. There was no known cause of transmission.
True rehabilitation
Residents of Madhya Pradesh's Kakdi village take relocation as an opportunity to undertake afforestation, develop sustainable practices
INESCAPABLE THREAT
Chemical pollution is the most underrated and underreported risk of the 21st century that threatens all species and regions
THAT NIGHT, 40 YEARS AGO
Bhopal gas disaster is a tragedy that people continue to face
A JOKE, INDEED
A CONFERENCE OF IRRESPONSIBLE PARTIES THAT CREATED AN OPTICAL ILLUSION TO THE REALITY OF A NEW CLIMATE
THINGS FALL APART
THE WORLD HAS MADE PROGRESS IN MITIGATING EMISSIONS AND ADAPTING TO CLIMATE IMPACTS. BUT THE PROGRESS REMAINS GROSSLY INADEQUATE
