#Dhanvantari Jayanti and Aayurveda Diwas
Rigveda, an ancient Hindu scripture, says ‘Jivema Sharadah Shatam’ (May we live a life of 100 years!). In order to realize their ambition of living up to 100 years,they developed Ayurveda – a holistic system of medicine that is believed to have originated in around 1500 BCE, during the Vedic period in ancient India. The earliest references to health and healing can be found in the Vedas, particularly the Atharva Veda, which contains hymns and incantations related to health, disease, and healing practices.
Ayurveda evolved through interactions with other traditional systems of medicine, such as traditional Chinese medicine and Greek medicine. Traditional medicine has a long history. Over 3,500 years ago, Sumarians and Egyptians developed an elaborate method of diagnosing and treating various ailments. Medicine in ancient Greece was a combination of theories and practices that included natural remedies, supernatural beliefs, and the study of the human body.
Some 4,000 years ago, Sumerians noted down on early clay tablets how to use willow tree bark for pain relief. Similarly, salicylic acid, for example, extracted from willow trees, was used to treat fever, pain, and inflammation in ancient Mesopotamia.
In ancient Greece, Hippocrates recommended chewing on willow-tree bark to patients suffering from fever and pain. Moreover the use of a tea brewed from willow bark served to lessen the pain during childbirth.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines traditional medicine (TM) as a combination of knowledge, skills, and practices that are used to prevent, diagnose, treat, or improve physical and mental health. These practices are based on the beliefs, experiences, and theories of different cultures.
“Traditional medicine is as old as humanity itself,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the WHO. “While growing up in Ethiopia, I saw first-hand how communities relied on traditional practices for their needs. Harnessing the potential of traditional medicine would be a game changer for health when founded on evidence, innovation and sustainability,” he added.
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Traditional forms of medicines were quite popular around the world until the 19th century. However, with the rise of allopathy, these medicinal approaches were largely ignored and failed to attract rigorous research. In any case, countries from the global south are now working towards claiming their rich heritage.
India takes a lead
In 2014, the Government of India established the AYUSH Ministry with a vision of reviving the knowledge of ancient systems of medicine and ensuring the optimal development and propagation of the Ayush systems of healthcare. The ministry is focusing on education and research in Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy (AYUSH), it is said. The same year, in response to a formal request made by the government, the United Nations started observing 21st June as the International Day of Yoga.
The Government of India played a key role in persuading the WHO to establish the Global Traditional Medicine Center (GTMC) at Jamnagar in Gujarat,the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The first WHO Traditional Medicine Global Summit was organized in India in August 2023. The institution has been visualized as a knowledge center for traditional medicine with respect for local heritages, resources and rights as a guiding principle. India also committed US$ 85 million over 10 years (2022–2032) to support the programming of the WHO GTMC.
Every crisis presents an opportunity, they say. The COVID19 pandemic has increased worldwide interest towards traditional medicine. While fighting COVID-19 in China, for example, the National Health Commission of China announced that 92 percent of COVID-19 cases were treated with traditional Chinese medicine combined with Western medicine, and that around 90 percent patients responded to the treatment and recovered or significantly improved.
Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has listed 14 herbal medicinal products against COVID-19 and clinical trials are going on. Ayurveda, Amchi, Homeopathy (including Yunani), and Naturopathy are well-known traditional health systems in Nepal. There are 61 district Ayurveda health centers and 305 Ayurveda dispensaries that provide services free of cost or at nominal charges across the country.
Tu Youyou’s story
Tu Youyou, a Chinese pharmacologist, turned to Chinese medical texts from the Zhou, Qing, and Han dynasties to find a traditional cure for malaria, ultimately extracting a compound – artemisinin – that has saved millions of lives. In 1971, Tu’s team isolated one active compound in wormwood that seemed to battle malaria-friendly parasites. They tested extracts of the compound but nothing worked. She tried another approach, this time with an ether-based solvent and tested it on mice and monkeys. It had a 100 percent success rate. She was awarded the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine in 2015.
Success like Tu Youyou’s can be achieved only when the rigors of modern science are applied to test the efficacy of traditional knowledge. This, however, requires resources and investment. Emerging challenges like climate change are also posing serious threats to the development and practice of traditional medicine.
Challenges
Species are now disappearing hundreds, or even thousands, of times faster than the natural background rate of extinction, according to scientists. The scientific community has repeatedly sounded the alarm on the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) says.
A study conducted by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), an independent intergovernmental science and policy body supported by the UN, has warned that around one million species are facing extinction due to global warming.
Besides climate change, poverty and ignorance are also serious threats to traditional knowledge and practices. Fleecing hapless people, promoting unscientific practices and making money in the name of traditional medicine need to be discouraged and dealt with according to law.
Way Forward
The Gujarat declaration adopted by the first WHO Traditional Medicine Global Summit 2023 called upon member countries to support the evidence-based integration of traditional, complementary and integrative medicine (TCIM) in national health policies and systems, based on highest quality research. The Summit also called upon member countries to facilitate the evidence-informed, appropriate integration of TCIM into national health systems using a primary health care approach, and according to country contexts and priorities, to progressively realize Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and all health-related UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Goal 3 of the SDGs calls upon member countries to achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all by 2030. Attaining this goal, however, would be next to impossible unless nutritious food, clean water, dignity and quality health services are made available to around 700 million people worldwide who are living in extreme poverty.
Promoting traditional medicinal practices on the basis of systematic scientific research would go a long way to protect the planet. There is a need to establish formal education programs to train practitioners and promote awareness of traditional medicinal principles among the general public. Equally important would be to encourage collaborative healthcare models that incorporate both Ayurveda and allopathic medicine, fostering a holistic approach to patient care.
On the side of production, implementing sustainable practices for the harvesting of medicinal plants to protect biodiversity and ensure the long-term availability of resources critical to traditional medicine is a must. Local communities need to be empowered by involving them in the cultivation and sustainable use of medicinal plants, ensuring economic benefits and the preservation of traditional knowledge. It will warrant concerted efforts from all, including the UN bodies, national governments, scientific community and the civil society. Only then may we be able to realize the timeless message of ancient Rigveda - ‘Jivema Sharadah Shatam!’
