Chapter 1: Introduction

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Chapter 1: Introduction Regulation of the Practice of Traditional Medicine in China, India, and Malaysia By Cheng Soon Goh Submitted in accordance with the requirement for the degree of PhD The University of Leeds School of Law March, 2012 The Candidate confirms that the work submitted is her own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. ii Acknowledgements I would like to record my gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Graham Dutfield, for providing me with his most valuable and generous help during the preparation of the dissertation. Professor Dutfield has guided and supported me throughout the course of this doctoral research. He has shown great patience in reading and commenting on the draft of this thesis. He has also introduced me to the “intellectual property rights” perspective of traditional medicine. I gratefully acknowledge the invaluable review comments from Professor Gerard Bodeker (University of Oxford), and his contacts in the Global Initiative for Traditional Systems (GIFTS) of Health, Oxford. Professor Bodeker has provided helpful criticism at various stages of my research and writing. Thoughts and ideas for improvements in the write-up have been stimulated. His constant encouragement and unbounded generosity on knowledge sharing are greatly appreciated. Moreover, I would also like to express my warm appreciation and gratitude to Professor Bodeker in directing me to the “policy” perspective of healthcare. Many thanks go to Dato’ Dr. Dorai Raja (President of Malaysian Association of Traditional Indian Medicine, Malaysia) for the many discussions on a variety of issues; to Antony Taubman (then Director of Global Intellectual Property Issues Division and Life Sciences Programme, WIPO) for his invaluable opinions, to Dr. Lalita Sinha and Lucille Santhadas for their support throughout; and my grateful thanks to Professor Liu Jian Ping, Dr. J.R. Raju, Ng Soh Bee, Yan Yu Feng, Han Wan Tong, and Wei Shi An who have kindly supported in the coordination of the case studies. I wish to thank the Ministry of Health Malaysia for financial support for the research. My gratitude also to the following bodies for allowing me to interview their officers: iii State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Beijing World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies, Beijing Beijing University of Chinese Medicine Guang An Men Hospital, Beijing Beijing Tong Ren Tang Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy Department, New Delhi World Health Organization (WHO) Country Office for India, New Delhi Maharishi Ayurveda Hospital (MAH), New Delhi Tibbia College, New Delhi Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bangalore Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions, Bangalore Traditional and Complementary Medicine Division, Kuala Lumpur Malaysian Medical Council, Kuala Lumpur Legal Unit, Kuala Lumpur Herbal Medicine Research Centre, Kuala Lumpur Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur Federation of Chinese Physicians and Medicine-Dealers Associations of Malaysia (FCPMDAM) Federation of Chinese Physicians and Acupuncturists Associations of Malaysia (FCPAAM) Malaysian Chinese Medical Associations (MCMA) Malaysian Association of Traditional Indian Medicine (MATIM) My great indebtedness to each of the interviewees for their time, helpful insights, and kind cooperation. On a personal level, I am grateful to my parents, Goh Sew Chuan and Yee Siew Mooy, for giving me life and a strong foundation. Their love and concern have iv sustained me through the many hours of work. Finally, thanks to my siblings for supporting me at all times and inspiring me every single day. Cheng Soon v Abstract The trend towards increased traditional medicine utilisation is a global phenomenon. Malaysia is a prime exemplar. However, the regulation of traditional medicine practice there has not kept pace with this trend. Malaysia plans to develop traditional healthcare policies and legislation to integrate traditional medicine into the current formal healthcare system. How this might be most effectively accomplished is the core concern of this thesis. Currently, the national healthcare policy on traditional medicine is being formulated and implemented, but legislation is not yet in place. The policy challenge is how best to cultivate a standard policy across the various traditional systems. This involves such issues as follow: The definition of legal power, The framing of rules and regulations, and The standardisation of a traditional medicine education system. In this study, the research questions are as follows: 1. How do India and China regulate traditional medicine practices? 2. What can Malaysia learn from the Indian and Chinese regulatory systems? 3. How can the intention to regulate be justified? 4. What would be the best way to achieve and oversee this regulatory system? To answer these questions, a comparative public policy analysis is conducted on traditional medicine in China and India, both of which have considerable experience in this area. The data is primarily gathered through in-depth interviews of three professional groups; policy makers, academics, and traditional medicine practitioners from the three countries. Both China and India have well-established traditional medicine systems and considerable legislative and regulatory experience, but have adopted radically vi different approaches. In China, traditional medicine has been integrated into the mainstream healthcare system. Indian systems of medicine are practised in parallel to modern medicine. The question arises of which strategy, or which components, Malaysia should adopt. While traditional medicine is scheduled for integration into Malaysia’s mainstream healthcare system, policy does not guarantee equality with modern medicine. Moreover, the policy of one country may not be suitable for another country. Malaysia could recast the models of China and India, and establish a comprehensive policy on traditional medicine. Integrating traditional medicine into the mainstream healthcare system would be facilitated by an inclusive, consultative and formalised process of professionalisation. vii Table of Contents Acknowledgement ii Abstract v Table of Contents vii Table of Cases xi Table of Legislation xi List of Tables xv List of Figures xv List of Abbreviation xvi Chapter One: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background 1 1.2 History 5 1.3 Origins of ISM and TCM in Malaysia 9 1.4 Problem Statement 11 1.5 Objectives of the Study 11 1.6 Scope and Limitations 13 1.7 Significance of the Study 14 1.8 Organisation of the Thesis 14 Chapter Two: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 2.1 Introduction 17 2.2 Literature on Professional Development of Traditional Medicine 17 2.2.1 Professional Development of Traditional Medicine in China 18 2.2.2 Professional Development of Traditional Medicine in India 25 2.2.3 WHO on Professional Development 31 2.2.4 Summary 33 2.3 Comparative Studies in Policy and Law 35 2.3.1 Comparative Healthcare Policy 35 2.3.2 Comparative Law 39 2.3.3 W. Richard Scott in Comparative Studies 42 2.3.4 Summary 44 2.4 Global Overview 45 2.4.1 Policy and Regulation 45 2.4.2 Training 51 2.4.3 Integrated Medicine 53 2.4.4 Intellectual Property Rights and Confidentiality 56 viii 2.4.5 Summary 64 2.5 Literature on Traditional Medicine Policies in China and India 65 2.5.1 The National Healthcare System 65 2.5.2 Education and Training System 67 2.5.3 Summary 69 2.6 The Malaysian Experience 70 2.6.1 Training in Traditional and Complementary Medicine 74 2.6.2 Professional Regulation 75 2.7 Overall Summary of Literature Review 77 Chapter Three: METHODOLOGY 3.1 Introduction 79 3.2 Theoretical and Conceptual Framework 79 3.3 Definition of Terms 84 3.3.1 Regulation 84 3.3.2 Traditional Medicine 87 3.3.3 Integrated Medicine 88 3.3.4 Healthcare Policy 90 3.4 Methodology 93 3.4.1 Data Collection Design 93 3.4 2 Sources of Data 97 3.4.3 Data Collection Method 99 3.4.4 Logistics 100 3.5 Approaches to Data Analysis 101 3.5.1 Data Management 102 3.5.2 Data Classification 104 3.6 Validity and Reliability 108 3.7 Summary 108 Chapter Four: ANALYSIS OF THE FINDINGS IN CHINA 4.1 Introduction 110 4.2 Legal Regulations 110 4.3 Formal Organisations 120 4.3.1 Formation of the Professional Bodies for Traditional Medicine 120 4.3.2 Universities of Traditional Medicine 122 4.3.3 Integrated Healthcare Hospitals 138 4.4 Cognition and Support 151 4.4.1 Governmental Support 151 4.4.2 Traditional Support 153 4.4.3 Allopathic Support 154 4.4.4 Public Support 156 4.5 Recommendations to Malaysia 159 4.5.1 Experiences in the Establishment of Traditional Medicine ix Education 159 4.5.2 Experiences in Integrated Medicine 163 4.6 Summary of the Findings in China 165 Chapter Five: ANALYSIS OF THE FINDINGS IN INDIA 5.1 Introduction 169 5.2 Legal Regulations 169 5.3 Formal Organisations 178 5.3.1 Formation of the Professional Bodies for Traditional Medicine 178 5.3.2 Universities of Traditional Medicine 181 5.3.3 Integrated Healthcare Hospitals 192 5.4 Cognition and Support 200 5.4.1 Governmental Support 200 5.4.2 Traditional Support 208 5.4.3 Allopathic Support 210 5.4.4 Public Support 213 5.5 Recommendations to Malaysia 215 5.5.1 Experiences in the Establishment of Traditional Medicine Education 215 5.5.2 Experiences in Integrated Medicine 219 5.6 Summary of the Findings in India 220
Recommended publications
  • Integrated Medicine in the Management of Chronic Illness: A
    SB Brien, FL Bishop, K Riggs , et al Integrated medicine in the management of chronic illness: a qualitative study Sarah B Brien, Felicity L Bishop, Kirsty Riggs, David Stevenson, Victoria Freire and George Lewith INTRODUCTION ABSTRACT Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use Background is common in individuals with chronic health Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is problems; 70–90% 1 of patients with arthritis and 50% popular with patients, yet how patients use CAM in with irritable bowel syndrome 2 use CAM. Push and relation to orthodox medicine (OM) is poorly pull factors explain this phenomenon. Push factors understood. include the perceived failure 3 and adverse effects of Aim 3,4 To explore how patients integrate CAM and OM when orthodox medicine (OM), and dissatisfaction with its self-managing chronic illness. reliance on technology. 5 Pull factors include the Design of study perceived effectiveness of CAM, 3,6–8 and belief that Qualitative analysis of interviews. CAM offers a holistic 3,8,9 and patient-centred Method approach. 3,10 Semi-structured interviews were conducted with The majority of patients who use CAM integrate its individuals attending private CAM practices in the UK, 8,11 who had had a chronic benign condition for 12 months use with OM, but we know little about how patients and were using CAM alongside OM for more than manage chronic conditions when using both 3 months. Patients were selected to create a maximum approaches. Recent data suggest that people use variation sample. The interviews were analysed using and integrate CAM in different ways, as an alternative framework analysis.
    [Show full text]
  • Are Traditional Medicine and Phytotherapy the Same?
    Acta Scientific Pharmaceutical Sciences (ISSN: 2581-5423) Volume 2 Issue 8 August 2018 Short Communication Are Traditional Medicine and Phytotherapy the Same? Roshanak Ghods* Persian Medicine Department, Research Institute for Islamic and Complementary Medicine, School of Persian Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran *Corresponding Author: Roshanak Ghods, Persian Medicine Department, Research Institute for Islamic and Complementary Medicine, School of Persian Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Received: July 23, 2018; Published: August 22, 2018 Persian medicine is a school of traditional medicine, which is These are the main principals of every medical school, which is - founded on the basis of humoral theory. Similar to Unani medicine or many other traditional medicines, Persian medicine is one of based on four elements (fire, air, water, soil/earth) and their attrib everything have a special temperament (hot and wet, hot and dry, these holistic medical schools. In this medical viewpoint, a physi- uted qualities (warmness, wetness, coldness, dryness) that make Mizaj cian has to know all the features of every element and its attrib- - uted temperament and humor before suggesting any kind of treat- cold and wet, and cold and dry). In fact, the temperament ( action between different amounts of the four elements. Humor is ment to the patient. It is important to mention that according to in Arabic) is a uniform quality that results from the ultimate inter the humoral theory, diseases occur when the balance between the organism, whether a plant, an animal, or a human. We have four hu- four qualities in the body is disturbed.
    [Show full text]
  • PATENT LITIGATION in CHINA: CHALLENGING CONVENTIONAL WISDOM Renjun Bian†
    PATENT LITIGATION IN CHINA: CHALLENGING CONVENTIONAL WISDOM Renjun Bian† ABSTRACT The People’s Republic of China has become a world leader in both patent applications and patent litigation after the Chinese government enacted new policies to stimulate domestic innovation and patent activities. These major developments have made China an integral venue of international patent protection for inventors and entrepreneurs. However, due to the lack of judicial transparency before 2014, most people had virtually no access to Chinese patent litigation data and knew little about how Chinese courts adjudicated patent cases. Instead, outside observers were left with a variety of impressions and had to guess how the courts adjudicates these cases based on the plain texts of the Chinese Patent Law and the limited number of cases released by the press. However, starting January 1, 2014, China mandated public access to all judgments via a database called China Judgements Online (CJO), making empirical studies possible. This Article analyzes all publicly available final patent infringement cases decided by local People’s Courts in 2014. Surprisingly, findings in this Article contradict the long-standing beliefs held by many people about patent enforcement in China. One prominent example is that foreign patent holders were as likely as domestic patent holders to litigate and foreign patent holders received noticeably better results—specifically, higher win rates, injunction rates, and average damages. Another example is that plaintiffs won in 80.16% of all patent infringement cases and automatically got permanent injunctions in 90.25% of cases where courts found patent infringement. These new findings indicate that patent protection in China is stronger than once believed.
    [Show full text]
  • China's Healthcare System: Addressing Capacity Shortfalls
    March 31, 2021 China’s Healthcare System: Addressing Capacity Shortfalls before and after COVID-19 Leyton Nelson, Policy Analyst, Economics and Trade Acknowledgements: Virgil Bisio, former Policy Analyst, Economics and Trade, contributed research to this report. Disclaimer: This paper is the product of professional research performed by staff of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, and was prepared at the request of the Commission to support its deliberations. Posting of the report to the Commission’s website is intended to promote greater public understanding of the issues addressed by the Commission in its ongoing assessment of U.S.- China economic relations and their implications for U.S. security, as mandated by Public Law 106-398 and Public Law 113-291. However, the public release of this document does not necessarily imply an endorsement by the Commission, any individual Commissioner, or the Commission’s other professional staff, of the views or conclusions expressed in this staff research report. ! Table of Contents Key Findings .............................................................................................................................................................. 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................ 1 Chronic Disease and Demographic Trends Strain China’s Healthcare System ......................................................... 1 As China’s Population
    [Show full text]
  • The Web That Has No Weaver
    THE WEB THAT HAS NO WEAVER Understanding Chinese Medicine “The Web That Has No Weaver opens the great door of understanding to the profoundness of Chinese medicine.” —People’s Daily, Beijing, China “The Web That Has No Weaver with its manifold merits … is a successful introduction to Chinese medicine. We recommend it to our colleagues in China.” —Chinese Journal of Integrated Traditional and Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China “Ted Kaptchuk’s book [has] something for practically everyone . Kaptchuk, himself an extraordinary combination of elements, is a thinker whose writing is more accessible than that of Joseph Needham or Manfred Porkert with no less scholarship. There is more here to think about, chew over, ponder or reflect upon than you are liable to find elsewhere. This may sound like a rave review: it is.” —Journal of Traditional Acupuncture “The Web That Has No Weaver is an encyclopedia of how to tell from the Eastern perspective ‘what is wrong.’” —Larry Dossey, author of Space, Time, and Medicine “Valuable as a compendium of traditional Chinese medical doctrine.” —Joseph Needham, author of Science and Civilization in China “The only approximation for authenticity is The Barefoot Doctor’s Manual, and this will take readers much further.” —The Kirkus Reviews “Kaptchuk has become a lyricist for the art of healing. And the more he tells us about traditional Chinese medicine, the more clearly we see the link between philosophy, art, and the physician’s craft.” —Houston Chronicle “Ted Kaptchuk’s book was inspirational in the development of my acupuncture practice and gave me a deep understanding of traditional Chinese medicine.
    [Show full text]
  • The Efficacy of Siddha Medicine, Kabasura Kudineer
    Natarajan et al. Trials (2020) 21:892 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-020-04823-z LETTER Open Access The efficacy of Siddha Medicine, Kabasura Kudineer (KSK) compared to Vitamin C & Zinc (CZ) supplementation in the management of asymptomatic COVID-19 cases: A structured summary of a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial S. Natarajan1* , C. Anbarasi1, P. Sathiyarajeswaran1, P. Manickam2, S. Geetha3, R. Kathiravan3, P. Prathiba3, M. Pitchiahkumar4, P. Parthiban5, K. Kanakavalli6 and P. Balaji3 Abstract Objectives: The primary objectives of this study are to determine efficacy of Siddha medicine, Kabasura kudineer in reduction of SARS-CoV-2 viral load and reducing the onset of symptoms in asymptomatic COVID-19 when compared to Vitamin C and Zinc (CZ) supplementation. In addition, the trial will examine the changes in the immunological markers of the Siddha medicine against control. The secondary objectives of the trial are to evaluate the safety of the Siddha medicine and to document clinical profile of asymptomatic COVID-19 as per principles of Siddha system of Medicine. Trial design: A single centre, open-label, parallel group (1:1 allocation ratio), exploratory randomized controlled trial. Participants: Cases admitted at non-hospital settings designated as COVID Care Centre and managed by the State Government Stanley Medical College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India will be recruited. Eligible participants will be those tested positive for COVID-19 by Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain reaction (RT-PCR) aged 18 to 55 years without any symptoms and co-morbidities like diabetes mellitus, hypertension and bronchial asthma. Those pregnant or lactating, with severe respiratory disease, already participating in COVID trials and with severe illness like malignancy will be excluded.
    [Show full text]
  • Organizing Committee
    ORGANIZING COMMITTEE 19th PSM CONGRESS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE Organizing Chairman : Dr Rosy Jawan Co-Organizing Chairman : Dr Soo Thian Lian Secretary : Dr See Kwee Ching Assistant Secretary : Dr Jumeah Shamsuddin Treasurer : Dr Neoh Siew Hong Fund Raising : Dr Irene Cheah Dr Bavanandan Naidu Sr Alice Ho Man Mooi Social Events : Dr Irene Cheah S/N Sangeeta a/p Rathanasamy Publications : Dr Alvin Chang Venue : Dr Irene Cheah Dr Rosy Jawan Sr Alice Ho Man Mooi Audio Visual : Dr Jumeah Samsudin 19th PSM CONGRESS SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE Chairman : Dr Soo Thian Lian Co-Chairman : Dr Rosy Jawan Secretary : Dr See Kwee Ching Free Papers : Dr Bavanandan Naidu (O&G) Dr Chye Joon Kin (Neonatology) Sr Alice Ho Man Mooi (Nursing) Committee Members : Dr Jumeah Shamsuddin Dr Nazimah Idris Prof Dr Zaleha Mahdy Dr Irene Cheah Prof Dr Cheah Fook Choe Dr Neoh Siew Hong Sr Alice Ho Man Mooi Dr Alvin Chang (Representing PSS) 2 19th Annual PSM Perinatal Congress FACULTY OF SPEAKERS OVERSEAS FACULTY Andrew Ngu Terrence Thomas Consultant Obstetrician & Gynaecologist Consultant Chairman, Division of Obstetrics & Gynaecology Neurology Service Northern Hospital, Victoria Department of Paediatrics, Australia KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital Singapore Heather Jeffery Professor Victor Samuel Rajadurai International Maternal and Child Health Clinical Associate Professor School of Public Health, University of Sydney Head and Senior Consultant Clinical Academic Neonatologist Department of Neonatology Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital
    [Show full text]
  • Potential Opportunities from One of the Fastest Growing Major Global Healthcare Markets1
    KURE 3/31/2018 China Healthcare: Potential Opportunities From One Of The Fastest Growing Major Global Healthcare Markets1 An Overview of the KraneShares MSCI All China Health Care Index ETF (Ticker: KURE) 1. Major healthcare markets defined as top five global markets by the World Health Organization. Data from the World Health Organization as of 12/31/2015. Retrieved 3/31/2018 [email protected] 1 Introduction to KraneShares About KraneShares Krane Funds Advisors, LLC is the investment manager for KraneShares ETFs. Our suite of China focused ETFs provides investors with solutions to capture China’s importance as an essential element of a well-designed investment portfolio. We strive to provide innovative, first to market strategies that have been developed based on our strong partnerships and our deep knowledge of investing. We help investors stay up to date on global market trends and aim to provide meaningful diversification. Krane Funds Advisors, LLC is majority owned by China International Capital Corporation (CICC). 2 Investment Strategy: KURE seeks to measure the performance of MSCI China All Shares Health Care 10/40 Index. The Index is a free float adjusted market capitalization weighted index designed to track the equity market performance of Chinese companies engaged in the health care sector. The KURE securities in the Index include all types of publicly issued shares of Chinese issuers, which are listed in Mainland China, Hong Kong and United States. Issuers eligible for inclusion must be classified under the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) as engaged in the healthcare sector. The issuers included in the Underlying Index may include small-cap, mid-cap and large-cap companies.
    [Show full text]
  • Can Rural Health Insurance Improve Equity in Health Care Utilization?
    Liu et al. International Journal for Equity in Health 2012, 11:10 http://www.equityhealthj.com/content/11/1/10 RESEARCH Open Access Can rural health insurance improve equity in health care utilization? a comparison between China and Vietnam Xiaoyun Liu1,2*, Shenglan Tang3, Baorong Yu4, Nguyen Khanh Phuong5, Fei Yan6, Duong Duc Thien7 and Rachel Tolhurst2 Abstract Introduction: Health care financing reforms in both China and Vietnam have resulted in greater financial difficulties in accessing health care, especially for the rural poor. Both countries have been developing rural health insurance for decades. This study aims to evaluate and compare equity in access to health care in rural health insurance system in the two countries. Methods: Household survey and qualitative study were conducted in 6 counties in China and 4 districts in Vietnam. Health insurance policy and its impact on utilization of outpatient and inpatient service were analyzed and compared to measure equity in access to health care. Results: In China, Health insurance membership had no significant impact on outpatient service utilization, while was associated with higher utilization of inpatient services, especially for the higher income group. Health insurance members in Vietnam had higher utilization rates of both outpatient and inpatient services than the non- members, with higher use among the lower than higher income groups. Qualitative results show that bureaucratic obstacles, low reimbursement rates, and poor service quality were the main barriers for members to use health insurance. Conclusions: China has achieved high population coverage rate over a short time period, starting with a limited benefit package. However, poor people have less benefit from NCMS in terms of health service utilization.
    [Show full text]
  • China Investment Report
    CHINA INVESTMENT REPORT Energy Charter Secretariat 2017 DISCLAIMER Information contained in this work has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. However, the authors do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of any information published herein, and the authors shall not be responsible for any losses or damages arising from the use of this information or from any errors or omissions therein. This work is published with the understanding that the authors are supplying the information, but are not attempting to render legal or other professional services. The contents of this work are the authors’ sole responsibility. They do not necessarily represent the views of the Energy Charter Secretariat or any members of the Energy Charter Treaty. © Energy Charter Secretariat, 2017 Boulevard de la Woluwe, 46 B-1200 Brussels, Belgium ISBN 978-905948-197-8 Reproduction of this work, save where otherwise stated, is authorised, provided the source is acknowledged. All rights otherwise reserved. China Investment Report 2017 FOREWORD After much engagement and retaining the status of “Observer by invitation” for more than a decade, China formally took the significant step of upgrading its status within the Energy Charter Process by signing the International Energy Charter in The Hague in 2015. The Energy Charter and China have a long-standing history of cooperation, which has been recently underpinned by establishing the International Energy Charter-China Electricity Council Joint Research Centre in Beijing. China is a pivotal country in the global energy sector. The country is not only a major producer of fossil fuels, but also the world’s largest importer of fossil fuels.
    [Show full text]
  • IMCR an Initiative for Improving AYUSH Health System at Kolli Hills IMCR
    IMCR 43 REPORT An Initiative for Improving AYUSH Health System at Kolli Hills Kalyan Maity1,2, Parul Bali3, Maa Muktika4, J. M. Balamurugan5* 1 Division of Yoga and Life Sciences, Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana (S-VYASA), Bengaluru, Karnataka, India 2 Neuroscience Research Lab, Department of Neurology, PGIMER, Chandigarh, India 3 Department of Biological Sciences, IISER, Mohali, Punjab, India 4 Isha Outreach, Velliangiri Foothills, Ishana Vihar (po), Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India 5 IAS, Principal Secretory to Governor Punjab & Administrator U.T Chandigarh, India *Corresponding Author: J. M. Balamurugan, IAS Principal Secretory to Governor Punjab & Administrator U.T Chandigarh, India Contact no: +91-9780020243 E-mail: [email protected] Introduction only medicine” [23]. Research has shown that Naturopathy can be an integrative treatment for hypertension [24], meno- Indian system of medicine has been a well-established tradi- pausal symptoms [25], asthma [26], metabolic syndrome tional medical system globally [1]. This system is also called [27], and cancer [28]. AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Along with Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, India is fol- Homeopathy) system. AYUSH system believes in holistic ap- lowing Unani system of medicine since long back, that was proach and treating a person as a whole. It is re-emerging in introduced by Arabs and Persians during eleventh century. developing countries in order to promote preventive health Several Unani healthcare, research and educational institutes rather than symptomatic management [2, 3]. Especially in In- are present in India [29]. Hippocrates is called the founder of dia AYUSH system is developing day by day as an integrative the Unani system.
    [Show full text]
  • Tibet an Medicine and Biomedicine
    TIBETAN MEDICINE AND BIOMEDICINE: EPISTEMOLOGICAL CONFLICTS, PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS' GEOFFREY B. SAMUEL Abstract The western adaptation of non-western medical systems and traditions is a complex process that takes place at a variety of different levels. In many practical medical contexts, epistemological issues receive little attention. Both patients and practitioners may switch frameworks relatively freely, without much concern about underlying theoretical assumptions. Epistemological issues may be more central elsewhere, for example in regard to the licens­ ing and approval of practitioners and medicinal substances, or in terms of the rethinking of western models of knowledge to include new insights from these non-western sources. I suggest in this paper that the major learned medical traditions of Asia, such as ayurveda and traditional Chinese med­ icine and traditional Tibetan medicine, for all their differences from bio­ medicine and among each other, are in some respects relatively compatible with western biomedical understandings. They can be read in physiological terms, as referring to a vocabulary of bodily processes that underlie health and disease. Such approaches, however, marginalise or exclude elements that disrupt this compatibility (e.g. references to divinatory procedures, spirit attack or flows of subtle 'energies'). Other non-western healing practices, such as those in which spirit attack, 'soul loss' or 'shamanic' procedures are more central, are less easily assimilated to biomedical models, and may simply be dismissed as incompatible with modern scientific understandings. Rather than assenting to physiological reduction in the one case, and dis­ missal as pre-scientific in the other, we should look for a wider context of understanding within which both kinds of approach can be seen as part of a coherent view of human beings and human existence.
    [Show full text]