When the Union health ministry is working out changes to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Amendment Bill in order to allow Ayush doctors to conduct non-invasive abortions, the Ayurveda Medical Association of India (AMAI) is gearing up to raise a legitimate demand to the government and to the modern medical practitioners’ associations to allow UG and PG students of Ayush to undergo three months training in surgery theatres as per their curriculum.

The demand was discussed in detail at the executive committee of AMAI and was endorsed by all the members. The association will force the central Ayush ministry to forward their demand to the Cabinet to get the government nod, said Dr Rejith Anand, general secretary of AMAI, a pan India ayurvedic practitioners’ association. Besides, they will put the demand before IMA and other organisations.

The latest decision of the Union health ministry for changes to MTP Amendment Bill has been taken for discussion despite strong objections from Indian Medical Association and Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI). There is complaint from UG and PG students of Ayurveda and Siddha that the allopathic practitioners do not allow them even to observe surgery procedures in the theatre even though their curriculum insists for that. According to some Siddha students, in Tamil Nadu the BSMS students are sometimes allowed to enter the surgery theatre to observe the procedures, but in Kerala, the state IMA is strongly objecting it, said Dr Rejith Anand.

Recently, a government Ayurveda doctor from Alleppy district chose one Ayurveda medical college in Nagpur to do his PG course. While sharing his experience, he told Pharmabiz that in Kerala the allopathic doctors at government hospitals see the Ayurveda students as second rate people and do not allow them to understand the procedures. Whereas in Nagpur, there is no such discrimination towards Ayush students from the side of modern medical practitioners.

Dr Rejith Anand says that the Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM) insists all Ayurveda colleges in Kerala to start modern surgery theatres to train the students there, not for practicing. But the government Ayurveda colleges in the state are yet to take any step towards that end. Presently, the BAMS students are posted in allopathic hospitals as ‘clinical observants’. This is not sufficient as per the curriculum.

AMAI refutes the allegation of IMA that Ayush doctors are often prescribing allopathic medicines and promote quackery. AMAI clarifies that the association has given strict instructions to its members not to practice modern system or prescribe any modern medicine to their patients and to stick only to Ayurveda therapy. However, he agrees to the fact that there are rare incidents of mixing medicines of Ayurveda and allopathy by certain traditional practitioners in some villages. The association does not encourage such practices. AMAI wanted IMA and other modern practitioners’ associations to put an end to their animosity towards the traditional healing systems in the country.

“According to WHO policy , Indian government made several steps to mainstream traditional health systems of the country. As part of it, separate Ayush ministry was formed to ensure sufficient fund for propagation of ayurveda, siddha, unani and homeopathy. Government is planning several steps to make the systems available for more sectors of people. One of the main aim of NRHM was to mainstream Ayush system. But the forces trying to keep medical systems like Ayurveda away from common people play a negative role to torpid the government's move. This is nothing but to protect their business interest”, he adds.