As part of the 11th Five Year Plan preparatory report initiatives by the Planning Commission, a separate Steering Committee to streamline AYUSH and make the local systems of medicine a part of the healthcare delivery system has been constituted. With reference to Local Health Traditions, the Steering Committee on Ayush, has formed a dedicated sub-group for Local Health Traditions(LHTs) which is headed by Dr Darshan Sankar, director, Foundation for Revitalization of Local Health Traditions (FRLHT).
This is a support plan of the Union Government's integrated plan of action to offer a choice of treatment to the people by bringing in Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH) and LHT into the main stream of public health care.
The Planning Commission in its list of recommendations is looking at a scheme for deputing and training selected Ayush practitioners to undergo training in public health in designated training institutes. For this, it proposes an All India Coordinated Project to strengthen Trained Birth Attendants (TBAs) and veterinary traditional experts. It is also viewing the feasibility of initiating a collaborative training programme for traditional bonesetters in Primary Health Centres for the management of fractures and dislocation in the country.
In its draft report submitted to the Planning Commission, the sub-group on LHT addressed the need for an All India Coordinated Project for Documentation for Revitalization of LHTs and Practices in selected development blocks.
Now the Foundation is working towards assessing viable and practical method to associate practitioners of Indian System of Medicine and healers into the mainstream of public health care. Foundation, which has been associated with the Christian Medical College (CMC) Vellore, to study the capability and competence of traditional bone setters in Tamil Nadu and has also extended the work to Hubli and Dharwad in Karnataka. Further, the Foundation has been assessing the strengths of the tribal mid-wives.
Under its All India Coordinated Project for Documentation of LHTs, it has a series of tasks in the pipeline where it intends to form a network of folk healers association activated from 20 locations at block and district levels. It will also set up four regional centres for revitalization of LHTs with folk healers' training schools and hostels. An illustrated multi-lingual national status report on LHTs covering number and gender profile of local health practitioners, scope of service would also be made along with rapid assessment of LHT services. Further it will also come out with publications of local herbal pharmacopeias for human and veterinary care. Efforts are also on to set-up a minimum of 5,000 herbal gardens, 25 community herbal gardens in the village blocks selected for the project across the country.