Sharma Praveen Kumar, Singh Anchal, Sharma Naveen K
Department of Life Science, School of Natural Sciences, Central University of Jharkhand, Ranchi, 835205, Jharkhand, India.
Department of Botany, Indira Gandhi National Tribal University, Amarkantak 484887, Madhya Pradesh, India.
J Herb Med. 2022 Jul;34:100578. doi: 10.1016/j.hermed.2022.100578. Epub 2022 Jun 11.
The COVID-19 crisis has exposed inadequacy to deal with such health emergencies. The state of healthcare facilities in India is shambolic, which is further exacerbated by the exclusivity of modern health systems. The authors argue for vertical and horizontal expansion of the existing system to include traditional medicine systems, in favor of an urgently needed holistic and more inclusive healthcare system.
Secondary data were collected from free online resources, including preprints, reprints and databases, J-gate Plus, PubMed and Web of Science, using keywords such as, "folk medicine", "folk medicine AND India", "traditional Indian medicines", "indigenous Indian medicines AND India", "Indian ethnomedicines", "Indian AND folk AND medicine", "indigenous Indian medicine".
Insufficiently robust public healthcare infrastructure, lack of enough qualified health professionals, and poor use of its traditional medicinal systems, are limiting the access of basic healthcare facilities to a large section of the Indian population. Despite vehement opposition and criticism from modern health system practitioners, indigenous and local healing traditions do offer benefits and share a common global goal of health and healing. The objectives of Universal Health Coverage and Health for All as enshrined in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) cannot be achieved without their involvement, especially in remote and economically disadvantaged regions of the country. Even a sub-optimal utilization of its biological and human resources and related traditional knowledge can not only profoundly change the health, but also the economic landscape of India. Here, we have nuanced the constrains posed by the emerging health challenges, status and prospects of the great and little traditions of the Indian System of Medicines in fulfilling the urgent healthcare needs of the country. The authors based their arguments on the available evidence, rather than emotive ideas or, as a fan of Indian traditional medicines, and suggest for the purposeful inclusion of traditional health systems and practitioners more actively in India's health care delivery systems. The country must not squander the opportunities offered by its traditional medicinal systems.
新冠疫情危机暴露了应对此类卫生紧急情况的不足。印度的医疗设施状况混乱，现代卫生系统的排他性使其雪上加霜。作者主张纵向和横向扩展现有系统，将传统医学系统纳入其中，以建立一个急需的全面且更具包容性的医疗体系。
从免费在线资源中收集二手数据，这些资源包括预印本、重印本和数据库、J-gate Plus、PubMed以及科学网，使用的关键词如“民间医学”“民间医学与印度”“印度传统医学”“印度本土医学与印度”“印度民族医学”“印度与民间与医学”“印度本土医学”。
不够强大的公共医疗基础设施、缺乏足够的合格卫生专业人员以及对传统医学系统的利用不足，限制了印度大部分人口获得基本医疗设施的机会。尽管受到现代卫生系统从业者的强烈反对和批评，但本土和地方的治疗传统确实提供了益处，且有着共同的全球健康与治愈目标。若没有它们的参与，尤其是在该国偏远和经济弱势地区，可持续发展目标中所规定的全民健康覆盖和健康惠及所有人的目标将无法实现。即使对其生物和人力资源以及相关传统知识进行次优利用，也不仅能深刻改变印度的健康状况，还能改变其经济格局。在此，我们细致阐述了新出现的健康挑战所带来的限制、印度医学体系的大小传统在满足该国紧急医疗需求方面的现状和前景。作者基于现有证据而非情绪化观点进行论证，并且作为印度传统医学的支持者，建议更积极地将传统卫生系统和从业者有目的地纳入印度的医疗服务体系。该国绝不能浪费其传统医学系统所提供的机会。
