Traditional
Medicine of proven quality, safety, and efficacy, contribute to the goal of
ensuring that all people have access to care. The traditional systems are
valued mostly because of its closeness culturally to the practices of people.
Most of the concepts of wellbeing as propounded in the traditional medicine are
readily understandable by common man due to the closeness to their social,
cultural features and as well as the plants used in medicine and food are
familiar to them. They are also valued because of the fact that is close to
homes, accessible and affordable.
Large numbers of people trust in the healing power
of the traditional medicine. The affordability of most traditional medicines
makes them all the more attractive at a time of soaring health-care costs and
nearly universal austerity. Traditional medicine also stands out as a way of
coping with the relentless rise of chronic non-communicable diseases. Regardless
of reasons for seeking out traditional medicine, there is little doubt that
interest has grown, and will almost certainly continue to grow, around the
world. Siddha medicine, one of the two codified systems of India, the
principles and practices that are well conceptually structured and well
documented is also now slowly gaining attention in the vast expanse of land
where south Indian population have migrated and settled but also among
researchers of traditional medicine, anthropology and Public health.
Siddha
medicine one among the well codified traditional system of medicine, though
considered as a Tamil system of medicine is in fact pan global in nature for
the following reasons. The Cittars who made the existing knowledge into
codified health science by authoring treatises, originated or travelled to different
parts of the world, particularly the Asia (Bogar, Pulipanni. Yacobu, Korakar,
Thirumoolar, Dhanvantri to name a few. All the herbs and other material used in
the drugs of the system do not belong to the current day south India alone or
even the Indian subcontinent, various herbs (Asefodieta, Guggulu, Licorice) and
inorganic including mercury are from outside the region. Most of all the basic
concepts of Siddha are applicable throughout the world.
More
over the current trend clearly suggests governments and consumers are interested not just in herbal
medicines but are now beginning to consider aspects of traditional practices
and practitioners and whether they should be integrated into health service
delivery. Today Traditional medicine products and practices
from one region are used throughout the world to complement local health care
service delivery, making them a truly global phenomenon. The other factor why
there is a need for global acceptance is because of the fact individuals move freely from country to country in order to
live and work. This in turn requires availability of Siddha medicines globally
and also a better understanding of the consistency and safety of practitioners’
ability to deliver health care in the new environment and cultural variations.
We
need continues work on defining and supporting access to safe products and
practices. The awareness about Siddha medicine among the Indian Diaspora (not
just Tamils, many Malayalees after the opening of a college in Trivandrum and
among Kannadigas and Telugu speaking population due to a large presence in
Bangalore, Vizag and other towns and in the Indian neighborhoods in many
countries (UAE, US and UK) where people temporarily travel and stay for work.
The ethnic Tamil population that migrated to Europe and Canada from Sri Lanka
in the past century and earlier migration to Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam,
Cambodia, South Africa have now realized the need to incorporate Siddha system
into healthcare.
Health
systems around the world are experiencing increased levels of chronic illness
and escalating health care costs. Patients and health care providers alike are
demanding that health care services be revitalized, with a stronger emphasis on
individualized, person-centric care.
The
emergence of life style disorders (Non communicable diseases) throughout the
world has drawn attention to the usefulness of Siddha medical system, as the
following basic understanding is the way to live healthy and reverse these non
communicable disorders
·
Living in harmony with nature –
understanding the relationship/ commonality of human and the environment – Five
primordial elements
·
The understanding on the body- mind
relationship in health and disease – Anthakaranas and Astaragas
·
Food and Health- Age, Activity,
appropriate food for recovery from disease
·
Lifestyle, habits, physical activities
and health – Daily regimen and Seasonal regimen – cleansing therapy
·
Uniqueness of the individual
These
concepts are applicable to every living being in the world and could be practiced
for better health in any part of the world.
Most
of the Southeast Asian countries still reel under problems of Malaria, dengue
and other viral diseases and some of the Siddha medicines which have shown
promise will be readily accepted after certain data are generated and provided
as these countries are also looking for solutions to these epidemics.
The
popularity of physical manipulative therapy including therapeutic varma is
gaining grounds as it does not require a great list of medicines to practice
and the skill of the physician is the most important thing and it can be
practiced in a small centre in any geographical location of the world. The role
of varma is significant in three areas- pain management, correction of postural
disorders and Sleep disorders. Certain external therapies do require a proper
evaluation of safety and efficacy, but by and large can be adopted in most of
the countries.
The
herbs that are used frequently in Siddha medicine include a wide range of
spices and condiments used in daily food across Asia, Eurosia and by Indian
Diasporas even in the western world and could be readily locally manufactured in
those countries itself. Many of the tropical herbs are also available in most
of the Asian countries and governments will have no hesitation in permitting
manufacture of the Siddha medicines based on these herbs and spices locally
used and also permit import from India with proper product dossier. The
principle of drug selection is based on Taste, Property, Potency, After taste
and Unique action can be applied even to European herbs and instead of
currently used Siddha herbs, newer herbs could be chosen based on these
principles as even in the past herbs that are not native to South India have
also been included in Siddha. Many of the Siddha herbs individually have been
well investigated by different university departments and research centers and
enough data on safety, efficacy at appropriate dose is already available and
little more efforts on these formulations will make them acceptable globally.
Initial choice should be simple formulations with fewer ingredients which are
safe. This will make Siddha medicine entry easy in many countries
As
much scope we have in making Siddha medical practice a global phenomenon, as
Siddha medicine becomes more popular, it is important to balance the need to
protect the intellectual property rights of our indigenous practitioners and
their health care heritage while ensuring access to Siddha knowledge and fostering research,
development and innovation. Any actions should follow the global strategy and
plan of action on public health, innovation and intellectual property Policy
makers and consumers should consider how Siddha may improve patient experience
and population health. Important questions of access as well as population and
public health issues must be addressed.
Since practices vary widely from country to
country with certain practices regarded differently depending on the culture, understanding
and accessibility of conventional medicine, this system also need to fine tune
to the local needs, environment – climate, weather, food and lifestyle.
A practice where significant progress has been
made is acupuncture. Although acupuncture was originally a feature of
traditional Chinese medicine, it is now used worldwide. According to reports
supplied by 129 countries, 80% of them now recognize the use of acupuncture.
The
Challenges for making Siddha medical practice acceptable globally lies in
convincing the governments about the quality of practitioners, practice and
drugs.
The
Siddha practitioners have a similar qualification and regulation like Ayurveda
and the regulatory body being same, countries which have already permitted
practice of the other Indian medical system will have lesser queries when
approached by Siddha practitioners willing to establish practice. Some of the
countries specify specific years of prior clinical experience immediately
before applying for permission to establish practice and also requires a pre
registration test mostly on public health, policy and safety, attitude. Aspiring
Siddha practitioners needs to be trained on that. Even in a country where
practice of Varma is allowed, Siddha medicines are yet to be permitted for use.
Product registration is mandatory based on the product dossier, which should
contain the details of ingredients, their safety profile, data on clinical
efficacy, the Standard operating procedures adopted during manufacture, GMP
status of the factory etc., Necessary precautions needs to be adopted in the
choice of ingredients – herbs even, and local regulatory frame work on their
status like- list of toxic herbs, narcotic drugs etc in the country of use. WHO
limits of microbial load and heavy metal limits needs to be strictly adopted.
But these challenges also provide an opportunity to ensure safe efficacious
drugs for local users too. Yet another challenge for acceptance of Siddha
Medical practice is the perception that it is linked with certain religious
faith, philosophy, tantric and mystic practice. The use of inorganic too may
pose a challenge initially and once we have enough data on their safety profile
that could also be overcome. Today’s Overseas Indian generation gets all the
awareness about Siddha either from TV shows or Social media posts which most of
the time misrepresent the facts above Siddha. So proper awareness needs to be
created based on evidence and reliable facts should be disseminated to them
Risk
as perceived by people on use Traditional medicine as listed by WHO is
applicable to Siddha practice also. Some countries have also found it difficult
to regulate due to
·
Use of poor quality, adulterated or counterfeit products;
·
Unqualified practitioners
·
Misdiagnosis,
delayed diagnosis, or failure to use effective conventional
treatments;
·
Exposure to misleading or unreliable information;
·
Direct adverse events, side effects or unwanted treatment
interactions
To conclude Siddha medical practice can
be made acceptable globally if Practitioners, Practice and products quality is
properly regulated with the help of Ministry of AYUSH, our regulator body and
research council.
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