Monday, May 8, 2017

INTEGRATED AYURVEDA/HOMEOPATHY/ALLOPATHY INSTITUTION PROPOSED

By Kanchan Srivastava
DNA/Daily News & Analysis
Tuesday, 25 AprIL 2017-10:29pm

The integrated institution, which would be possibly first of its kind in India, would have a medical, a dental, an Ayurveda, a homeopathy and a physiotherapy college along with their dedicated hospitals in Jalgaon.

In an interesting development, the BJP-led Devendra Fadnavis government has approved an integrated medical hub which will offer healthcare services in modern allopathy, Indian traditional and homeopathy under one roof. The Rs 1,250 crore unique project spread over 47 hectare would be set-up in Jalgaon city, the home town of Medical Education Minister Girish Mahajan.

The integrated institution, which would be possibly first of its kind in India, would have a medical, a dental, an Ayurveda, a homeopathy and a physiotherapy college along with their dedicated hospitals. The move seeks collaboration of all branches of medicine and offer a bouquet of healthcare services to patients as per their need.

There would be 100 seats for MBBS, 100 for Ayurveda, 50 for dental and homeopathy and 40 seats for physiotherapy. Girish Mahajan, Medical Education Minister, said “Civil hospital of Jalgaon will be affiliated with this hub. Admission for all these courses will start next academic year.”

Mahajan justifies the selection of Jalgaon claiming that north Maharashtra has just 0.54 doctors per one lakh population compared to state figure of 0.64 for 1,000 population.

The government denies any plan to formulate interdisciplinary courses for medical students in this institution, however, sources say there is no harm if doctors recommend treatments unrelated to their branch if it offers better results.

OJA FESTIVAL OF AYURVEDA & YOGA 2017 in NEW DELHI

Ayurveda & Yoga Oja Festival make Ayurveda first call of treatment
ETHealthWorld
New Delhi
May 6, 2017

Now when medical treatment is so expensive, Ayurveda can help us in making effective treatment available to more and more people. -- Shri Manoj Sinha, Minister of Communications

Manoj Sinha, Minister of Communications today inaugurated Oja Festival 2017, India’s Premier festival of Ayurveda & Yoga in presence of A Jayakumar, Secretary General – Vijnana Bharati, Prof. Abhimanyu Kumar, Director – All India Institute of Ayurveda and other eminent experts and doctors from the field of Ayurveda.

Oja Festival by NirogStreet is a movement to make Ayurveda first call of treatment for those interested in Ayurcveda. Organised at Constitution Club of India, New Delhi, this two day festival was attended by doctors and experts from different streams of Ayurveda, India’s popular ayurvedic companies, policy makers and general public.

Inaugurating the Oja Festival 2017, Shri Manoj Sinha, Minister of Communications said, “Before independence a lot of our historic knowledge was lost and no effort was made to restore it. Now when medical treatment is so expensive, Ayurveda can help us in making effective treatment available to more and more people. We need to strengthen our research in this area and make it accessible to people across the country. The potential of Yoga is also being realized and the government is working towards promoting it. I applaud this endeavor towards creating awareness about Ayurveda and Yoga.”

Talking about the initiative, Mr. Ram N. Kumar, Co-Founder Nirogstreet.com said, “Oja Festival is our initiative to celebrate Ayurveda and to promote this most effective yet nature friendly method of treatment among masses so as to make it first call of treatment worldwide.”

MAHARASTRA UNVERSITY AYURVEDA TEXT PUSHES MALE CHILDREN

Classical Ayurveda textbook: How to conceive a boy
by Alka Dhupkar
Mumbai Mirror
May 8, 2017

[Ed: It is not an understatement to say that even in India, the land of its birth, a massive amount of misinformation, misunderstanding and plain ignorance about Ayurveda prevail, to some extent egged on by the partisans of conventional allopathy. The hue and cry raised in this instance is over the content of a text over two thousand years in age, which BAMS students study as one of the classics of Ayurveda. That such foolishness should draw so much public attention is little less than embarrassing.]

In the state-owned Maharashtra University of Health Science, the third year students of Bachelor of Ayurveda, Medicine, and Surgery have to learn, among other things, how to "conceive a male child". The process of creating a male foetus  is called `pusanvan'. According to the text, any woman who desires a boy should be "blessed with the pusanvan ritual" as soon as she gets pregnant, reports The Times of India and Mumbai MIrror. The text has been taken from Charaka Samhita, the pre-2nd Century CE compilation on Ayurveda, which is a part of the current BAMS syllabus.

Want a baby boy? Collect two north facing branches of a Banyan tree (east facing will also suffice) that has grown in a stable, take precisely two grains of urad dal mustard seeds, grind all the ingredients with curd, and consume the mixture.This recipe is not some self-styled godman's prescription to fool gullible couples. It's part of the third-year Bachelor of Ayurveda, Medicine, and Surgery (BAMS) textbook that informs students on techniques to conceive a boy.

The text has been copied from Charaka Samhita, the pre-2nd Century CE compilation on Ayurveda, which is included in the current BAMS syllabus. According to the textbook, the process of creating a male foetus is called `pusanvan', and any woman who desires a boy should be "blessed with the pusanvan ritual" as soon as she gets pregnant.

The textbook lists various techniques to ensure the birth of a boy. One such technique is rather expensive. It says: "Create two miniature statues of a man out of gold, silver, or iron after throwing the statues in a furnace. Pour that molten element in milk, curd or water, and on an auspicious hour of Pushp Nakshatra, consume it."

The BAMS syllabus in the state is supervised by the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) in Nashik, and Dr Dilip Mhaisekar, former dean of the Dr Shankarrao Chavan Government Medical College in Nanded, is the vice-chancellor.

Objection to the textbook's contents were recently raised by Ganesh Borhade, a member of the district supervisory board of the PreConception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, who is also associated with the Lek Ladki Abhiyan supervised by advocate Varsha Deshpande.

"Doctors with BAMS degrees have a thriving practice not just in rural areas, but also in cities such as Mumbai, Pune, and Nashik. Many people shun allopathy in favour of Ayurveda, and if this is what medical students are being taught, God help this society," Borhade said. He brought the textbook content to the notice of the PCPNDT Act authorities in the state, but it is unlikely that such content will be removed from the textbooks in the coming academic year.

Dr Asaram Khade, the Maharashtra PCPNDT Act consultant, told Mumbai Mirror that a letter has already been issued to the joint secretary, public health, Government of India regarding the syllabus in violation of the PCPNDT Act, even as Borhade warned that the Centre had less than a month to act. "The academic year starts in July, and such content supports female foeticide" he said. Borhade pointed out a part of the content in the textbook, which he said had no scientific backing whatsoever. The portion of the content said, "Cook rice flour with water, and while cooking, the woman should inhale the steam. Then add water to the cooked flour, and soak a ball of cotton in it. The woman should lie on the threshold so that her head touches the ground. Then, with that cotton ball, the liquid should be poured in her nostrils. It should not be spit out, instead it should be swallowed."

MUHS Vice-Chancellor Dr Mhaisekar said the BAMS curriculum was decided by the Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy (AYUSH), and that he had written to the ministry regarding the objectionable content. "We are awaiting a reply from the ministry," Mhaisekar told Mumbai Mirror yesterday. "The MUHS doesn't have the right to add or delete from the syllabus. There are seven members from Maharashtra in the Central Council of Ayurveda and all of them are aware of this content," he said.