IMA opposes push for integrative meds; warns about dangers of ‘mixopathy’

On Saturday, union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya spoke about the government’s decision to set up centres in all medical colleges and government hospitals that would offer a mix of traditional and modern medicine. Practitioners of allopathy have long been opposing this approach

Mumbai: Union health ministry’s push towards what they term integrative medicine has not gone down too well with the Indian Medical Association (IMA). ‘Mixopathy’, they warned, can have dire consequences for patient care and safety.

IMA warned ‘Mixopathy’ can have dire consequences for patient care and safety. IMA’s National president Dr Sahajanand Prasad Singh from Patna said the problem is that doctors who are trained to treat patients with Ayurvedic or homoeopathic methods are not trained to conduct surgeries or prescribe modern medicines. (StockPic)

On Saturday, union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya spoke about the government’s decision to set up centres in all medical colleges and government hospitals that would offer a mix of traditional and modern medicine. Practitioners of allopathy have long been opposing this approach. Citing the example of China where traditional Chinese medicine was mixed with modern medicine, they say this is a failed model. Calling the integrative medicine policy an anti-people move, the IMA also warned that if this happens all MBBS doctors will be from Integrative medicine by 2030, and will practise and administer drugs from all systems of medicine.

IMA National president Dr Sahajanand Prasad Singh from Patna spoke about the Central Council of Indian Medicine Act notification from last year that allows practitioners of traditional medicine to perform certain types of surgeries. “The problem is that doctors who are trained to treat patients with Ayurvedic or homoeopathic methods are not trained to conduct surgeries or prescribe modern medicines,” he said.

“There are more than 650 medical colleges in the country that are churning out 99,063 MBBS doctors every year. They are sufficiently trained to handle those duties as well as serve people from all over the world who look at India as a medical hub,” said Dr Singh. He said that doctors from all streams of medicine should stick to what they learn in their curriculum rather than taking short, bridge courses for other sciences.

Doctors won’t suffer due to lateral entry of medical professionals from streams like ayurveda, homoeopathy or Yunani into modern medicine; it will affect the patients, said IMA general secretary Dr Jayesh Lele from Mumbai. He gave the example of China as the only country where integrative medicine is practised. This integration has caused the decimation of the traditional medicine system of the country, he added.

“We respect all systems of medicine. Therefore, we think it is important that we safeguard them in their pure forms. Mixopathy does not leave any scope for this. Besides, this unscientific mixing of sciences will only lead to loss of lives and suffering among patients,” said Dr Lele. He said that when all pathies are practised in their pure forms, the consumers also have better alternatives to choose from.

The IMA recounted several contributions of its members to the state of the country’s health today including Indians now having a life expectancy of 70 years which was only 27 years at the time of Independence. The infant mortality and maternal mortality rates in the country have been brought down considerably over the years. They also pointed out the eradication of diseases like smallpox and polio as well as containing infections like measles, mumps, tetanus, HIV, Tuberculosis, and malaria.