An Old but Historical Event at Santhigiri Ashram, Trivandrum

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http://presidentofindia.nic.in/scripts/sllatest1.jsp?id=829INTERACTION WITH SIDDHA AND AYURVEDIC MEDICAL COLLEGE STUDENTS, SANTHIGIRI ASHRAM, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

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21-09-2006 : Thiruvananthapuram

 

Traditional Medicine our core competence

I

am indeed delighted to interact with the inmates of the Santhigiri

Ashram and Siddha, Ayurvedic Medical College students. My greetings to

the Director, researchers, physicians, staff and students associated

with the Siddha and Ayurveda Hospital for their excellent contribution.

I am happy that the staff and students of Santhigiri Ashram are

promoting the cause of Anna Danam, Athura Sevanam and Athma Bodhanam

instituted by Navajyothi Sree Karunakara Guru over four decades back

after getting his enlightenment from the Sufi Saint Khureshi Fakir.

Kerala has been a leader in the Ayurveda and Siddha systems of medicine

for centuries. The traditional eight branches of Ayurveda treat various

types of diseases and provide personalized treatment to individuals.

Ancient knowledge is a unique resource of India, for it has the

treasure of a minimum of 5000 years of civilization.

The contributions made by the Siddha and Ayurveda institutions of

Santhigiri Ashram in providing effective remedies for various kinds of

ailments such as paralysis, piles, fistula, ulcers, discogenic

diseases, degenerative diseases of the central nervous system, allergic

diseases, eye diseases, HIV/AIDS, TB and Cancer are indeed noteworthy.

I would like to talk on the topic "Traditional Medicine our core

competence".

Biotechnology in Health CareI

would like to share my experiences that I had while I was at Anna

University, Chennai. One of them resulted in getting a patent for a new

molecule discovered from a herb as an anti cancer drug. This came out

of the fusion of two great minds, one was a bio technologist and the

other was a traditional Siddha medical practitioner. The traditional

systems of medicine like Ayurveda, Siddha etc. have advocated and

practiced preventive and curative medicinal recipes specific to

individuals. The body, mind, food and environment were looked at in an

integrated way to suggest a preventive or curative approach to health.

Medicinal plants offer enormous scope for development of drugs. We need

to create a database of traditional medicinal plants for specific

bioactivity and a lead for the development of new drugs. Bioinformatics

The convergence of bioscience and IT into Bioinformatics has given

thrust to researchers for genomics-based drug discovery and

development. Pressure is mounting on pharmaceutical companies to reduce

or at least control costs. There is a growing need for new informatics

tools to help manage the influx of data from genomics and turn that

data into tomorrow's drugs. Bioinformatics data

plays a vital role and is emerging as a business model for the medical

and pharmaceutical sector. It has a major role in key areas such as

gene prediction, data mining, protein structure modeling and

prediction, protein folding and stability, macromolecular assembly and

modeling of complex biological systems. IT helps in bringing the tools

to manage the high throughput experiments and the data they generate

and sharing and integrating all the data in a meaningful way resulting

into detailed models of complex systems, particularly biological

pathways. Networking InstitutionsOur

country is rich in human resources, particularly of scientists,

doctors, technologists and engineers. The basic infrastructure is

available for advanced research. The need of the hour is to network

existing facilities and expertise with commitment and conviction to

augment and facilitate the pace of research and development in the

field of Indian traditional medicine. There are tremendous

opportunities for technologists to work for the objective of

'Integrated Health For All' in a mission mode approach, which can be

suitably evolved for implementation. I would suggest Siddha and

Ayurveda Hospital to carry out collaborative research with other

renowned Ayurvedic and Allopathic Hospitals in Kerala and in the

country so that the diagnosis and treatment database will increase and

lead to sharing of knowledge and good medical practices. This practice

will reinforce good teaching. Good research is essential for good

teaching. I would also recommend the conduct of a national conference

on traditional medicine in which the traditional system practitioner of

multiple systems of medicine can participate for getting an integrated

view of medicare provided by our traditional healthcare system. This

proposed conference may also recommend the launching of a quality

scientific journal for reporting research, development, production and

proving of system and the clinical data for enabling sharing of

knowledge by multiple institutions in different disciplines. Mobile Clinics in Hill Regions

Now I would like to discuss on how to reach medicare to the

unreachable. On 19th October 2002, I participated in the launching of a

Mobile Clinic and Research Centre in Uttaranchal. This effort was

piloted by the Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment

Council [TIFAC], the Government of Uttaranchal, the Birla Institute of

Scientific Research and many other agencies. After four years of its

operation, I found this mobile clinic has been used in six districts of

Uttaranchal and has treated nearly 45,000 patients during this period.

Among the patients treated, 48 % belong to the below poverty line

category. They have taken 10,000 ultra sound, 5,600 X-rays, 1800 ECGs

and nearly 21,000 lab tests. The mobile clinic has documented the

disease profile of the patients in the region that is the six districts

which fall into the following categories: - acute peptic ulcer, anemia,

anti-natal, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, hyper tension,

pelvic inflammation, renal calculi, upper respiratory tract infection

and worm infection. This type of analysis has been possible because of

the computerized system of clinic management introduced right in the

beginning. Also, the mobile clinic has been used in regions that are

normally inaccessible and where organized medical facility is not

available. I consider this as the best form of reaching healthcare to

the neediest people. This is a low cost solution with committed

healthcare personnel and institutions. I am happy that the Santhigiri

Ashram has also adopted this concept and is providing medicare in the

rural areas of Kerala through mobile Ayurveda and Siddha clinics. Focused research

Siddha and Ayurveda Hospital can take a mission to scientifically bring

out a document on diseases that can be uniquely cured through Siddha

and Ayurvedic treatment. Based on this experience, even the syllabus in

the Ayurveda College can be modified and treatment configured. What is

needed in the country today is the evolution of treatment for diseases

like HIV and HIV-TB combination. If Siddha and Ayurveda research and

practice can give a solution, it is a great contribution to the world.

I am happy to know that the Santhigiri Ashram is having Ayurveda,

Siddha, Allopathic and Homeopathy doctors in their hospitals. I

understand that all of them meet patients together and the most

suitable combination of treatment is being designed and provided faster

recovery. The experience of this model may be documented and circulated

to other medical institutions so that they can recognize the merits of

integrated treatment using multiple systems of medicines. Conclusion: Doctors as health awareness creators

Since every one of you is involved in the noble profession of removing

the pain of the people, you can also play a vital role in preventing

ailments through proper health education to patients as well as their

relatives and friends through life style intervention. This can consist

of a proper diet with low fat and high fiber, regular aerobic exercise

like walking and stress management through Yoga, meditation and other

methods. This can help in preventing the recurrence of the disease in

the patient as well as promoting health awareness at all levels. When

you remove the pain of the people, the patient becomes part and parcel

of you and considers you almost as God. Hence, the patient will

definitely accept your health education considering you as the most

respected Guru. Every patient receives his family members, relatives

and friends when he is receiving healthcare in the hospital. That is

one occasion where you can give this message of a healthy life style to

all of them. A World Congress on Clinical and Preventive Cardiology is

being organized at Abu Road from tomorrow. This Congress is going to

discuss the results of an experiment on which lifestyle intervention

through high fiber low fat diet, simple aerobic exercises and

meditation has been provided to certain patients. The results have

proved the hypothesis about such an intervention. I will be

inaugurating the Conference from Madurai tomorrow.I

call upon the Siddha and Ayurvedic professionals assembled here to

proceed confidently and chart their own course in achieving excellence

in their chosen field. Siddha and Ayurveda practitioners may carry out

research to establish the special methods of evaluation needed for

proving the efficacy of their products. We must realize that

traditional medicine is similar to the genetically engineered medicines

of the Allopathic system. In the Western Ghats there is invaluable

bio-diversity, which has been well documented. This region has been the

cradle of Ayurveda and I wish you many more successes in your endeavour

to provide quality heath care to the needy. My

best wishes to all members of the Santhigiri Ashram in their mission of

removing the pain of the people through the traditional medical system,

which is India?s civilizational heritage.

May God bless you.

Question and Answer Session1.

Do you think that there is some degree of deterioration in the age old

values and traditions of our society because of the common tendency of

the masses to "ape the west", as Swami Vivekananda put it?- Gopalakrishnan, 4th Year BAMS Student, Santhigiri Ayurveda Medical College

Ans:

There is some western influence through the media. Parents have the

responsibility to advise the children what they should see and what

they should not see in the television. The educational institutions

must have a one hour class every week to promote moral values through

reputed teachers. While I was in college, I remember the lectures given

by highest authority of the Jesuit institution Rev Father Rector

Kalathil of St. Joseph's college, Trichirappalli, Tamilnadu. Every week

on Monday, he used to take class for an hour talking about good human

beings, present and past, and what makes a good human being. In this

class, he used to give lectures on personalities such as Buddha,

Confucius, St. Augustine, Califa Omar, Mahatma Gandhi, Einstein,

Abraham Lincoln including some scientific personalities and moral

stories linked to our civilizational heritage. It is essential in the

secondary schools and colleges to arrange a lecture by a great teacher

of the institution once in a week for one hour on India's

civilizational heritage and value systems derived from it. 2. Your Excellency, you have coined the

concept of development with comprehensive security. As the Supreme

Commander of the Armed Forces of India, do you think we should go on

the offensive, instead of being on the defensive?

- Gopika Thuiyath, 3rd Year BSMS student, Santhagiri Siddha Medical College

Ans: We have a time tested policy of defence. There is no need to change this policy.

3. Your Excellency, you have time and again

highlighted the idea of ?Unity of Minds? to achieve our national

vision. Can you guide us Siddha & Ayurveda medical students on our

role in achieving this great vision of yours?

- Gowri K Parvathy, 3rd Year BSMS student, Santhigiri Siddha Medical College

Ans:

For example, as Doctors all of you have a common goal of treating the

patients. This common goal can be the basis for Unity of Minds among

all medical students. We have many systems of medicines such as siddha,

ayurveda, unani, allpathy and homeopathy. The student from different

systems can work with unity for finding the best possible system or

combination of system for quick treatment of the patience. 4. Behind every successful man, there is a

woman. With your life, you have proved otherwise. What is the secret of

your success?

- Manu S Sankar, 3rd Year BAMS student, Santhigiri Ayurveda Medical College

Ans: Sweat, Sweat and Sweat.

5. Your Excellency, the modern world has stood

witness to some of the major contributions as well as disasters because

of science. In your opinion, is science universal or is it that there

is bad science and good science?

- Shanthibhooshan, 4th year BSMS student, Santhigiri Siddha Medical College

Ans:

There is nothing like bad science or good science. Science is always

universal. For example, we can either use nuclear science for producing

electrical energy or the same nuclear science can be used for making a

nuclear weapon. The choice lies with the user. The scientists has to

make the discovery and invention. Right type of use has to come from

the right thinking political system.

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