Homoeopathy truly is the people’s choice for wellness and the last 75 years have proven this more than ever, says Anil Khurana

Basic research studies are conducted to identify mechanism of action of the medicines and the effectiveness of the drugs, says Chairperson, National Commission for Homoeopathy, in an exclusive talk with The Hindu on World Homeopathy Day on April 10

The period of the last 75 years has been glorious for homoeopathy, just as the way it has been for independent India. Homoeopathy has bloomed into a fully established, regulated and accepted system of medicine in this era. From hardly a few colleges in 1947 and very few dispensaries, the homoeopathy infrastructure today stands, 259 colleges, around 400 pharmacies, dedicated research Council and well regulatory drug control and more than 3,00,000 practitioners.

Furthermore, India’s masses have accepted this modality, both for their day–to–day illnesses and chronic ailments. Recent studies have documented the fact that people prefer homoeopathy for respiratory, rheumatology, skin and infectious diseases. Homoeopathy also offers effective solutions to the recent health problems that have emerged in the form of epidemic infections, multi–drug resistance or lifestyle related disorders in the last 75 years.

A more recent example of this wide acceptance is the use of our medicine Arsenic album 30 as a prophylactic, immune–booster for COVID–19. During the pandemic, the CCRH offered prophylaxis through its Arsenic album distribution programme among 17 lakhs beneficiaries, while around 100 homoeopathy colleges were involved in mass distribution of the medicine among 1.50 crores population in the first wave alone.

In Gujarat, 50% of the population was given Arsenicum album by the provincial government. Government healthcare providers, both Central and State, many NGOs, philanthropists also distributed homoeopathic medicine to the population at risk throughout the country. Such mass allocation was only feasible because of the low cost of medicine, convenient storage, and easy administration.

The Government of India has played a pivotal role in this acceptance for homoeopathy by providing access to this affordable system practically everywhere — right from primary or community health centres to multi–specialty hospitals. The creation of AYUSH Ministry in 2014 gave the right impetus to this acceptance and gave the much–needed platform to homoeopathy, by supporting the system strategically, economically as well as administratively.

Homoeopathy truly is the people’s choice for wellness and the last 75 years have proven this more than ever!

The rationale behind setting up the National Commission for Homoeopathy is to bring about standardisation and good governance as mandated by our Prime Minister.This will allow objective, periodic and transparent assessment of homoeopathy medical institutions and facilitate maintenance of a medical register and enforce high ethical standards in all aspects of medical services. Another rationale is to ensure availability of adequate and high quality homoeopathic medical professionals whom people can trust with confidence.