Jamshedpur: Indian Medical Association Jamshedpur unit has launched an agitation against mixopathy and the decision of the union government to allow Ayush doctors to carry out modern medicine practice and modern surgery.
IMA has given a call for a phased countrywide agitation between Feb 1 to 14 against mixopathy.
IMA Jamshedpur unit too sat on a dharna and relay hunger strike at the roadside near Baug-e-Jamsheed School in Sakchi and held a protest.
The secretary of IMA Jamshedpur Dr. Mrityunjay Kumar said that they are not against Ayurveda as such, but if Ayurveda doctors are allowed to carry out surgery requiring knowledge and expertise in modern medicine, then the lives of patients can be endangered.
He said that doctors of each medicine systems should stick to their own practices and methods instead of trying to practice what they are untrained for.
IMA has taken a stand against the government decision to allow Ayurveda doctors to carry out surgery on the grounds that modern medicine and methods have never been a part of Ayurveda system of medicine.
However, Ayurveda doctors have dismissed IMA position as flimsy and lacking scientific backing. They point out that science is no fiefdom of any particular group and it is common for different systems of scientific practices to benefit from cross-learning.
They point out that allopathy doctors never try to put the same logic to test before they prescribe yoga or breathing exercises to their patients or when they try traditional medicines and methods for treating their patients.
Ayurveda doctors point out that progress of science and practice of science cannot be exclusive preserve of any particular group.
They say that only those Ayurveda doctors, who are qualified and trained in surgery, would be given the privilege of carrying out surgery and there would be sufficient checks and balances for the same.
However, they say, it is preposterous to assume that only someone trained in allopathy can carry out surgery. They point out that surgery is not something that started with allopathy, nor does any knowledge system belong to only a privileged group.
On the other hand, Mission Pink Health too has lent support to IMA stand and has opposed mixopathy.
Mission Pink Health has decided to display posters and banners opposing mixopathy and to spread health awareness in the society.
IMA office bearers urged the government to set up new medical institutions and increase the number of doctors instead of encouraging quackery in the name of medicine practice.
Town Post view: Mixopathy does carry a potential of abuse. Although, theoretically, anyone should be able to learn and carry out any trade by studying and practicing it to the required extent, the ability to carry out surgery needs strict supervision.
Even if the government claims that it would put in place the required standards, it is virtually impossible to maintain the minimum safety standards at the ground level.
Quackery is a real problem in rural hinterland and no government has been able to solve this menace. Rural population and illiterate and unprivileged sections of the society can easily fall prey to quacks claiming skills that they may not have.
The state of practice of alternative medicines is still not advanced enough to deal with the exigencies of advanced surgery yet.
While, theoretically, anyone after a good grounding in theory and practice of medicine should be able to carry out surgery after proving knowledge credentials, in India we need to remain on the side of caution and restrict this entry for now.
Alternative medicines should first achieve adequate development of their knowledge systems and methods of surgery before being allowed the privilege of practicing them on common man. As of now, they do not have much to show off.
However, it would be too haughty for allopaths to claim that they do not apply practices and methods from alternative medicines. Cross-learning is common and should be encouraged. There is nothing wrong in learning from other systems and applying them for the benefit of patients.
However, it is also true that alternative systems of medicines have been laggards in many areas including surgery. Alternative systems need to focus on more research before they claim an equal status.
For now, allopathy practioners deserve to take the cake, however unfair it may seem.
