Place of the Indigenous and the Western Systems of Medicine in the Health Services of India

Banerji, Debabar

doi:10.2190/0bg1-b2a7-m2bm-efec

Cited by 13 publications

(14 citation statements)

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“…The biomedical power in India has, of course, a distinct history. During the colonial period the preference, on the part of health authorities, was given to biomedical treatment-curiously enough, inequality in support has continued during the era of independence (see Gupta 1976;Banerji 1981;Jeffery 1982;Arnold 1993, pp. 50-60;Kumar 1998, pp.…”

Section: Casementioning

confidence: 99%

In the Presence of Biomedicine: Ayurveda, Medical Integration and Health Seeking in Mysore, South India

Nisula¹

2006

Anthropology & Medicine

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This paper is based on a research on medical integration and health seeking in Mysore, South India. It explores the use of Ayurvedic services, the impact of biomedicine on Ayurvedic practices and the meaning of instruments with respect to the expectations of patients and healers. The research was done during 2002 and 2003. The empirical data are derived from interviews, participant observation and survey material. Participant observation was carried out in two hospitals and nine clinics offering Ayurvedic services; 25 Ayurvedic practitioners and 30 patients were interviewed. A total of 233 respondents were surveyed in the University of Mysore and on trains and buses between Mysore and Bangalore. Results suggest that Ayurvedic medicine serves as a health reserve in urban Mysore. For the majority of informants biomedical treatment was an obvious choice of treatment, a form of therapy that was taken for granted, if compared with the preference for Ayurvedic services, which were usually utilized because of the failure of biomedicine. Regarding the position of Ayurveda, three issues are vital: first, the lack of experience and first-hand knowledge of Ayurveda on the part of health seekers, secondly, the significance of instruments, tools and technology as regards the expectations of proper consultation, and thirdly, the impact of medical integration, which seems to be critical for modern Ayurveda to thrive in the health market. In short, in order to gain popularity in an urban context, Ayurvedic practitioners favour institutional integration and adoption of items and practices particular to biomedicine.

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Section: Casementioning

confidence: 99%

In the Presence of Biomedicine: Ayurveda, Medical Integration and Health Seeking in Mysore, South India

Nisula¹

2006

Anthropology & Medicine

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“…Not only was health incorporated into the Directive Principles of State Policy, but numerous policies were also formulated to deliver services (Banerji 1981).…”

Section: Public Sector Health Interventionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Community health centres (CHCs) are followed by subdivisional/taluka hospitals and district hospitals. Each level has specific responsibilities, facilities and staffing patterns and is designed to cater to particular problems (Banerji 1985;Chatterjee 1993;Karkal 1991;Park and Park 1986).…”

Section: Public Sector Health Interventionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This was so because it was believed that such intervention rooted out the disease once and for all and therefore, after initial heavy investment, there would be no need of making further investments on tackling diseases in the future. As a result, numerous vertical programmes were launched soon after independence (Banerji 1985).…”

Section: Public Sector Health Interventionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Which Way to Turn? Inadequacies in the Health Care System in India

D’Cruz

Bharat

2001

Journal of Health Management

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The public, private and voluntary health sectors together contribute towards the provision of health care in India. All these play significant roles in influencing the health status of the Indian population. But their contribution is not without shortcomings. Indeed, it is largely their inadequacies that account for the limited improvements in the health status of the Indian people. Unfortunately, the chances that the recognition of these pitfalls and their implications will be translated into action and change are very few, given the present influence of the structural adjustment programme on the social sector. On the contrary, the situation is expected to worsen. This paper provides a perspective on India's health care system in the post-independence period In describing India's public, private and voluntary health sectors, it highlights some of the reasons behind the marginal improvements in health status in the country. The health care system embraces a multitude of services provided to people by agents of health services or health professionals from the public, private and/or voluntary sectors for the purpose of promoting, maintaining, restoring and monitoring health. Health services have to be organised such that they are comprehensive, acceptable, accessible, available and affordable, and that they cater to the needs of the entire population, and cover the full range of preventive, curative and rehabilitation requirements. Despite widespread agreement that health services should reach the entire population and that they should be optimally utilised, in reality the scope of the health care system varies widely from country to country, and is influenced by various country-specific issues, ideologies, needs and resources. As a consequence, it is possible that health care services may fail to fulfil their mandate, with adverse effects on the health status of the population. At the same time, given the central role that health plays in the life of human beings and the

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“…20 Face à l'arme politique que constituait la domination de la biomédecine sur le champ de la santé (Banerji, 1981), les acteurs de la « Renaissance scientifique indienne » (Bengale, fin XIX e siècle-début XX e siècle) cherchèrent à réconcilier l'Inde et la science dans l'imaginaire du peuple indien et à faire de l'Ayurveda, en tant que « science hindoue », une médecine nationale (Zimmermann, 2002). aujourd'hui la plus importante entreprise ayurvédique du Kérala (ibid.).…”

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L’Ayurveda

Dejouhanet¹

2009

echogeo

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Place of the Indigenous and the Western Systems of Medicine in the Health Services of India

Cited by 13 publications

References 1 publication

In the Presence of Biomedicine: Ayurveda, Medical Integration and Health Seeking in Mysore, South India

In the Presence of Biomedicine: Ayurveda, Medical Integration and Health Seeking in Mysore, South India

Which Way to Turn? Inadequacies in the Health Care System in India

L’Ayurveda

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