Open public letter to The Hon'ble Minister of Health, India.

[Guest guest]

drug industry has an annual turnover of Rs. 23,000 crores. Similiar amounts are

spent on the upkeep of hospitals and diagnostic clinics both in the public and

private sector. The expenditure is slated to go up at the rate of 30 percent

every year. The lure of profits and not the intention to heal has gripped the

entire medical industry dubbed the "most corrupt industry in the world" by the

Global Corruption Report 2006. Though the Hon'ble Finance Minister of India has

desisted from imposing the health cess the same cannot be ruled out if

corrective steps are not taken. What if the health sector itself is to

partially blame for this spurt in chronic diseases? Statements by ayurveds and

homeopaths all over the world, as well as critics of modern medicine and

hapless patients, seem to imply the same. Reductionist medicine is taking its

toll, they say, as modern doctors tend to treat the patients as machines rather

than as human beings. Modern

physics has long proved the holistic nature of the world but this does not

reflect in the medical industry allege leading scientists of the world. Can

India afford to remain complacent in the face of this danger? We stand to loose

both healthwise and financially if the lopsided development in favour of modern

medicine continues. As far back as 1940, health policy makers have warned that

the Indian systems of medicine and homeopathy can be ignored only at our own

peril. But 66 years have passed since then without the concerned officials

paying significant heed to that warning. Sir, we would like to know how much

out of the Rs. 50,000 crores promised by you towards health care reforms will

go towards improving access to holistic methods of healing. We would also like

to ask what became of the proposal to make available ayurveda and homeopathy at

all public

hospitals and also the proposal to hand over the primary health centres to

qualified BHMS and BAMS doctors. Associations of holistic health care

systems have asked for an allocation of 25% of the health budget as against the

present 3% to six systems of healing; only 1.5% was however released the last

year as pointed out by the Hon'ble CAG. They have also asked for better

management of the holistic medical colleges, filling up of teaching staff

vacancies, hospitals exclusively devoted to holistic methods in every district

and naturopathy clinics in every village. If these thoroughly justified demands

are met then with an improved health sector we can usher in a much better

scenario of positive wellness and also reduce the exorbitant, unnecessary and

unjustifiable health costs. We sincerely hope your goodself will listen to

the voice of the people and initiate more proactive steps in this

regard despite stiff opposition from the medical industry who seem more

interested in warning the public about the "dangers of herbs and homeopathy"

rather than developing permanent cures for chronic diseases.We have great faith

in you Sir and we sincerely feel you will not let us down. Respectfully yours,

Jagannath Chatterjee "Our ideal is not the spirituality that withdraws from

life but the conquest of life by the power of the spirit." - Aurobindo.

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