Aging Population in India 3

Indian Context of Traditional Medicine

In the subcontinent varied forms of codified medical systems such as Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani or Tibetan medicine (Gso-wa-rigpa) have long coexisted along with a rich non-codified folk form of knowledge. There are also several allied disciplines of traditional medical knowledge such as yoga and several newly introduced knowledge streams. The codified knowledge systems like Ayurveda have evolved in last 3-4 millennia and have unique worldviews, conceptual and theoretical frameworks for health management. The current available oldest Ayurveda literature is codified in 300 BCE which shows its antiquity. These systems have their distinctive understanding of physiology, pathogenesis, pharmacology and pharmaceuticals which are different from Western medicine. These systems have been institutionalized through national councils, uniform syllabus and education systems. In India there are around 800,000 licensed practitioners belonging to these medical systems, a huge human resource for any public health intervention. Much more diversity is available in the folk knowledge traditions otherwise known as local health traditions which are community specific and ecosystem specific. They use locally available medicinal plants and other resources for healthcare. They include an array of practices such as household level health practices (home remedies, food and nutrition, health related rituals and customs etc.) to specialized healers treating fractures, poison, pediatric ailments, skin disorders, mental health and so on. They are mostly orally transmitted, and highly dynamic. Though they differ substantially based on the ecosystem in which they are practiced they share common value systems and similar modes of transmission in communities. These are not legally recognized and often considered invalid yet continue to exist in communities due to social legitimacy and patronage.

Apart from these native traditions there also exist an extensive machinery of homeopathy practitioners which has been institutionalized in India and comes under the department of AYUSH[1], the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The traditional medical resources also include allied disciplines such as yoga, various approaches of meditation, breathing, martial arts, marma chikitsa, massage techniques which contribute to health and wellbeing. There are also new forms of complementary and alternative medical (CAM) knowledge which have been imported from other countries in the recent decades and have become popular like acupuncture, phytomedicine or herbal medicine, osteopathy, reiki, shiatsu, and so on which do not have formal recognition yet practiced in India.