NEW DELHI: The government plans to certify individuals who may not have the prescribed qualifications to be healthcare practitioners but bear knowledge gained from previous generations for certain treatments, such as for snake bites, jaundice, and bone-setting, two officials said.
“They have the expertise and experience, but they do not have any qualification or formal degrees and it stands in the way of their social acceptance,” one of them said. “The government through its autonomous certification body, Quality Council of India, has a plan to certify these people who have required skills and competence for the profession that they are doing.”
The intent behind certifying traditional community health practitioners is to validate their practices and increase their income, the second official said. Both the officials declined to be identified.
India faces a shortage of physicians practising modern medicine, and counts on practitioners of alternative medicine to bridge the gap, particularly in remote areas. Earlier this year, the government informed the Lok Sabha that while India had only about 1.3 million allopathic physicians including traditional medicine practitioners, the country’s doctor-population ratio was 1:834, better than the World Health Organization’s standard of 1:1,000.
Traditional or alternative medicines are overseen by the ministry of ayush, which stands for ayurveda, yoga and naturopathy, unani, siddha, and homoeopathy.
The government is also working towards designing integrated protocols for modern medicine and traditional Indian healing systems, as Mint reported on 3 December. Given the scepticism that traditional medicine, although more accessible, is not evidence-based, the ministry is also developing research-based treatment systems for various ailments.
The ministries of health, ayush and commerce did not reply to queries on the government’s plan to provide certifications to community healthcare providers.
Traditional community healthcare providers, apart from ayush practitioners, play a vital role in meeting the medical needs of people, especially in rural areas, and constitute a unique group of community-supported paramedical health workers recognised by the ministry of ayush.
Their services cover a range of ailments, from simple primary healthcare-related common ailments to the management of jaundice, joint pain, dislocation, childbirth and animal or reptile bites.
“The benefits of traditional health practitioners are availed by every class. Besides, poor and people living in rural areas, other classes are also getting benefited from it,” said Dr Ritu Priya, a professor of public health at Jawaharlal Nehru University’s Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health.
“The QCI has a very robust mechanism to certify their experiences. There is a minimum grade and after assessing their work, they get the certificate, which is voluntary in nature,” said Priya, adding that “those who lack experience get recommended for training in institutes identified by the QCI.”
Aviral Mathur, president, the Federation of Resident Doctors Association, suggested implementing rigorous training programmes as per recently established medical knowledge for striking a balance between tradition and modern standards.
“We appreciate the government’s effort to certify community healthcare practitioners for traditional treatments, emphasising the preservation of valuable knowledge. Regular assessments, collaboration with qualified healthcare professionals, and adherence to evidence-based practices will enhance the credibility and safety of these treatments.”
Homoeopathic physician Dr Ashish Kumar Jaiswal said the government’s decision will not only help provide practitioners of Indian folk medicine an opportunity to upgrade their knowledge but also filter out incompetent individuals.
“Efforts should be made to provide a platform to all those people who are experts in their own traditional and folk treatment of ailments to come up and share their knowledge and experience,” said Jaiswal, who is chief medical officer (homoeopathy) at a Central Government Health Scheme wellness centre. “At the same time, they should get an opportunity to get their claim scientifically validated to get proper promotion and recognition.”
