IMA- Time to grow up to its own prayer print!

 

This is exactly how any meeting of the Indian Medical Association starts with, followed by the Flag Salutation. It says, "May we be the healing cure, without greed and lure"! Well, where did this prayer secrete itself when its National President Dr. Rajan Sharma and Secretary General Dr. R V Asokan initiated the war tug over using the method of treatment that is to heal the widely spread COVID-19 virus?

 

The Indian Medical Association had on October 8, questioned Health Minister Harsh Vardhan’s move to promote alternative Ayurveda medicines and yoga for corona patients. And this is after Vardhan released a document prescribing protocol for COVID-19 prevention and treatment of asymptomatic as well as mild cases based on Ayurveda and yoga. The protocol promotes use of ashwagandha, guduchi, pippali, Ayush 64 tablets in different doses, and yoga to prevent COVID, treat mild symptoms and for post-COVID self-care.

 

 

It won't be an exaggeration if we here quote that the Association of around 3 lakh allopathic doctors 'intentionally and deliberately' damaged the reputation of Ayurveda by defaming the AYUSH system of Medicines used in treatment of COVID-19. Is this in effect to defame Ayurveda? Is this out of mistrust over India's oldest and ethnic way of curing disease? Or is this out of fear while in the race of introducing vaccines for COVID-19? A huge puzzle yet!

 

In fact, IMA raising questions over Ayurvedic treatment for COVID seems quite obvious as its page shouts that the group is nothing but a national voluntary organisation of Doctors of 'Modern Scientific System of Medicine' that first looks after the 'interest of doctors' and then the well-being of the community at large. Why won't they defame AYUSH and its Indianness, it being easier than striving to claim and re-claim some obtuse allopathic medicines like HCQ and Remdesivir as cure to COVID?

 

Further, its interesting to know that the IMA is the brainchild of a few doctors.. opps 'British-minded Doctors' who while struggling for liberation of ‘India’ felt the need of a national organisation of the medical profession. This said medical profession didn't include India's oldest and civilised method of treatment, the Ayurveda and hence it seems IMA does not respect it, even today. Before that, way back in 1928, some members of the profession- a selected few - were members of the British Medical Association, which had opened branches in India to cater to the local needs. These ‘stalwarts’, ultimately succeeded in formation of Indian Medical Association, evidently disrespecting the 'Indianness' within and overpowering the Britishers' way of medical treatment.

 

 

To boot, the thinking trail of the Indian Medical Association can be thought of to be ‘hush mortality’ where in every case it tries 'teach' the government how inapt it is by not considering the Allopathic way as a cure. For instance, is this incident when the Narendra Modi led government, 2016 was deciding to issue health warnings against the use of tobacco. "The Government of India should not succumb to the recommendations of the Parliamentary Committee on Subordinate Legislation. We are sure that the Modi Government will see to it that the health of the public is much more important than the interest of the tobacco industry", the letter by IMA to PMO read.

 

What kind of use of words was that back in 2016 by IMA? And the hitting irony still rests like, why is IMA today not understating its own words back then and putting the mass health on priority than the interest of the Allopath industry? IMA in its release to AYUSH had asked 5 questions, one amongst them being 'How many of his ministerial colleagues have so far made the informed choice of getting treated under these AYUSH protocols?' It seems clear that IMA itself did not study the COVID data well which claims that 67.08 per cent of the recoveries till date, be it ministerial colleagues or the common public, have opted for the AYUSH way of treatment.

 

The AYUSH system of medicine has been doing commendable work in the field of research through research councils and national institutes, and also in collaboration with various reputed institutions such as Indian Council of Medical Research, Indian Institute of Technology and others. When the world was attacked with Covid-19 pandemic in 2019, various clinical trials substantiated the importance of the effective role of the Ayurvedic herbal medicines – particularly, Ayurvedic Kwath, Sanshamani Vati, Chyavanprash and Ashwagandha in the virus prevention. From sipping hot turmeric milk, kadha to performing yoga, and consuming ashwagandha and guduchi, Ayurveda is no doubt a good fortune for India.