Abstractobjectives To examine the uses, cost and quality of care of traditional healing for short-term morbidities and major morbidities in India and to compare them with the non-traditional healing.methods We used data from a nationally representative survey, the India Human Development Survey (2004)(2005) and descriptive as well as bivariate analyses for the examination.results Use of traditional healing is much less common than use of non-traditional healing in both rural and urban areas and across all socio-economic and demographic characteristics; it is slightly more common in rural than urban areas for short-term morbidities. Use of traditional healing is relatively more frequent for cataract (especially in rural areas), leprosy, asthma, polio, paralysis, epilepsy and mental illnesses; its total cost of care and mean waiting time (in the health facility) are substantially lower than for non-traditional healing. Among patients who use both traditional and non-traditional healing, a relatively higher proportion use traditional healing complemented by nontraditional healing for short-term illnesses, but vice versa for major morbidities.conclusion This is the first study which has investigated at the national level the uses, complementarities, cost and quality aspects of traditional and non-traditional healing in India. Traditional healing is more affordable and pro-poor. Relatively higher use of traditional healing in patients from poorly educated as well as poor households and suffering from diseases, such as, epilepsy and mental illnesses; and higher demand for traditional healing for the above diseases highlight the need for research/policy reorientation in India.keywords traditional healing, minor morbidity, major morbidity, use of health care, cost comparison, quality comparison, India
Outside the established legal framework of intellectual property rights, countries have pursued multiple pathways to protect and promote traditional medicine. As Tibetan medicine is a late entrant into commercialization, the proposals to propertize generally fall within the rationale of existing sui‐generis paradigms of Intellectual property. In this context, the article enquires the state of innovations in this sector viz‐a‐viz the property right approaches in place especially in India and China. It argues that beyond the usual complex medical science and technology led—innovations, the pathways of cumulative processes and creative additions through informal experiential learning platforms, where the transfers of knowledge become part of livelihood and social benefits (we call them “below the radar innovations”) is ubiquitous in Tibetan medicine. The trends and politics in two recent strategies of protection, that is, Tibetan medicine as economic property (emphasizing patents here among many others) and as a cultural property (intangible cultural heritage) are juxtaposed with these informal innovative attempts. The paper underlines that the productivity‐based economic rationale of these protection mechanisms should not obscure sustainability alternatives of “below the radar” (BtR) innovations in Tibetan medicine.
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