Allopathic medicines

 Do we really need allopathic medicines for our day to day needs? 

Total pharmaceutical expenditure accounts for 1.5 % of the GDP in the world. 16% of the world population of high income countries spend 78% of global expenditure on medicines. In low per capita income countries 25% of the total health expenditure is spent on medicines. Medicine is our lifeline. 

China is the bulk drugs supplier to India, US and many countries. But at home, 65% of Chinese population prefer Chinese traditional medicines to allopathic medicines. India on the contrary though a mother of Ayurveda, 78-90% of its population prefer allopathic to ayurveda. 

The OPD and IPS numbers of Gujarat is approximately 50 million and 5 million respectively per annum in public institutions. Public health institutions carry 35% load of the market, therefore, one may estimate the numbers of OPD and IPD in private sector hospitals and dispensaries. Imagine the number of OPD and IPD of the country, probably one billion per annum in public institutions and 2 billion in private hospitals and clinics. Some may not go and some may visit more, but on an average one person may be visiting the clinic triennial. 

There is Covid19  Lockdown in the country for twenty one days (25 March to 14 April) and the OPD figures of public health institutions started falling. Private clinics are mostly closed and many people manage their illness with the help of tele medicines or the traditional home made formulas. The patients frequently going to the doctors for their minor health problems have stopped visiting dispensaries. It has reduced the pharmaceutical expenditure and load of chemicals over human bodies. 

If people can manage their minor illnesses without chemical drugs during the lockdown period, can’t they manage the same during normalcy? We become over dependent on external support, and therefore, getting weaker, physically and mentally day by day. Lockdown has brought back the home care herbs and our kitchen dispensary into action. People started understanding self immunity. They become more conscious of health. Let they understand the side effect of over use of allopathic medicines. Goi has announced that there is no such plan of extending the lockdown, but looking at the people living in homes happily and building their immunity with the help of kitchen cabinet to fight out Covid19 or Hanta or any other viruses, can’t we as a people request to the government to extend the lockdown for further three weeks, so that the threat of Covid19 disappear and Ayurveda returns to our day to day life. 😊😁

Punamchand 

1 April 2020