Recording traditional knowledge of healing.

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Health Recording traditional knowledge of healing http://www.infochangeindia.org/HealthIstory.jsp?recordno=12 & storyofchangev=HealthIstory.jsp & section_idv=2# A Vadodara-based organisation has begun collating the vast knowledge of traditional medicine As many as 441 ethnic communities in India still use around 8,000 plant species for medicinal purposes. According to some estimates, over 70 per cent of India’s health care needs continue to be met by traditional systems of medicine (TSM), with 84,00,000 registered TSM practitioners in fields such as ayurveda, sidha, unani, yoga and naturopathy, and

more than 6,00,000 traditional birth attendants. And yet, modern systems of medicine are slowly but surely edging out indigenous traditions. Not so far in the future, pills and needles will completely replace the caring hands of local healers or midwives. Shodhini is a project set up to compile, classify and validate the vast knowledge of healing that ! has been passed down through generations before it is lost forever; and to strengthen women’s control over their own bodies and health through self-help and training. In 1987, several women’s groups working in the field of health all over India came together to start the process of collecting information about herbs and recipes. This data collection covered nine states of India.In 18 months 600 remedies corresponding to 300 plants were collected. By 1990, the group began to

clinically test the remedies in three field areas and train health workers in using these remedies in rural areas and urban slums. Soon the health workers were grinding and mixing plants for remedies. Dosages were expressed in local measurements such as a handful of dried leaves, or a stem one finger long. In the beginning herbal remedies were used for common complaints such as vaginal discharge, burning urination, anaemia, dietary pr! oblems and painful periods. By late-1991, Shodhini began trials for herbal remedies for uterine prolapse, excessive bleeding and complications in pregnancy and delivery. Today, the initial network that Shodhini began with has spread to include many groups, regions and communities. Presently, third or fourth generation ‘barefoot gynaecologists’ are able to confidently diagnose and treat all sorts of common women’s ailments in Maharashtra, Gujarat,

Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Currently Shodhini has expanded both in terms of geography and population covered, undertaking newer issues – sexually transmitted diseases and working with men on reproductive health. Contact: Renu Khanna 1, Tejas Appts 53, Hari! Bhakti Colony, Old Padra Road Baroda- 390007 Gujarat, India Tel: 91-265-340 223 Email: renukhanna "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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