PHA-Exchange> PHM media coverage during the World Ayurvedic Congress:::::Zafrullah Chowdhury of Bangladesh has come down heavily on the ongoing commercialisation of Ayurveda

[UNNIKRISHNAN P V (Dr)]

THE HINDU
KOCHI- Nov 4, 2002 (INDIA)

Don't let commercialisation kill Ayurveda's soul'

By K.P.M. Basheer


KOCHI Nov. 3. Magsaysay-award winner and a
world-renowned crusader for low-cost community-based
healthcare, Zafrullah Chowdhury of Bangladesh, has
come down heavily on the ongoing commercialisation of
Ayurveda in India.

``Ayurveda should not go the allopathy way,'' Dr.
Chowdhury, who was here to attend the World Ayurveda
Congress, said in an interview with The Hindu on
Sunday. "Ayurveda should not repeat the mistakes made
by allopathy which is being heartlessly commercialised
and exploited by the multinational drug companies.''

Dr. Chowdhury, a thorasic surgeon trained in the U.K.,
is the projects coordinator of Gonoshasthaya Kendra
(GK), which had set a model for developing countries
in reaching low-cost healthcare to the underprivileged
people.

The GK, which was set up in 1971 by a group of
healthcare professionals engaged in the Bangladesh
liberation war to treat wounded freedom fighters, now
works for about a million rural people.

It campaigns for healthcare through community action,
for low-cost healthcare and for popularising
traditional systems of medicine. It is a strong
opponent of exploitation by multinational drug
companies.

The GK hosted the December 2000 `People's Health
Assembly' held in Dhaka, which was attended by NGO
activists and healthcare professional from about 100
countries.

Dr. Chowdhury said Ayurveda, which was a `science with
a soul', was being recklessly commercialised and, in
the process, its soul and philosophy were being
killed. "In Ayurveda, the philosophy is more important
than the herbs and drugs used for treatment,'' he
said.

The philosophy was based on a holistic view of life
and environment. The ill person was viewed as a part
of his or her surroundings and his or her relations
with the Nature and other humans were crucial in the
treatment.

If this philosophy was ignored, as in the case of
allopathy, the ancient system of healing would be
ruined. He noted that Ayurveda was not based on Hindu
philosophy, but Indian philosophy which was a
composite one.

He said that as a fallout of commercialisation, there
was now a mushroom growth of Ayurvedic preparations
which contained steroids, alcohol and other harmful
components. He referred to the 1991 `Sura Tragedy'
near Delhi, which killed some 700 persons who had
taken an Ayurvedic preparation that contained a heavy
dose of illicit alcohol.

He wanted the manufacture and sale of Ayurvedic drugs
to be strictly regulated. The drugs and treatment
should be made accessible to all and affordable to the
poor. Because of rapid commercialisation, the prices
of Ayurvedic drugs had shot up in the recent past.

He suggested that Ayurvedic doctors encourage a
holistic view of healthcare. They should also enhance
people's knowledge and spend more time on creating
awareness of health.

`Handwash scheme'


Dr. Chowdhury said the World Bank-initiated `Washing
Hands Initiative' to be introduced in Kerala shortly
was an `insult to Keralites.' He said he was
flabbergasted at the very idea of a scheme that would
give lessons to Keralites on the need for washing
hands using soap so that they could keep off
diarrhoea.

He noted that in India the incidence of diarrhoea was
the lowest in Kerala. It was a cruel ploy by the
multinational soap companies to market their products
and to snuff out competition from local soap
companies. "It shows the arrogance and obstinacy of
the World Bank and the multinational companies,'' he
said.

(The World Bank's Water and Sanitation Programme is
launching the Hand Washing Initiative in Kerala and
Ghana, Africa, shortly. The programme, ostensibly
aimed to reduce incidence of diarrhoea by popularising
washing germs off the hands, is supported by World
Health Organisation and London School of Hygiene and
Tropical Medicine.

The funding comes from the multinational companies
Proctor and Gamble, Johnson and Johnson, Hindustan
Lever and Godrej (all of which manufacture soap) as
well as the USAID, the Environmental and Health
Programme and a Dutch agency. McKinsey is the
management consultant to the programme.

The Hand Washing scheme in Kerala is said to cost Rs.
48 crores.

***********

Another TV story in the Asianet global

http://www.asianetglobal.com:8080/asianet/news/detailed.jsp?catId=1&newsId=3


Forwarded by: 

Dr. Unnikrishnan PV, India
E-mail: unnikru at yahoo.com   ; Mobile: 91 (0) 98450 91319

Click: www.indiadisasters.org   :   the one-stop humanitarian site
 

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