Relevance: GS-2: Issues relating to the development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

Key Phrases: Herbal Medicine, National Ayush Mission, drugs and sustainable availability, strengthen institutional capacity, Cultivation Of Medicinal Plants, Substandard, Extremely Poor Quality, Lack of trained manpower, Adequate Utilisation Of Infrastructure, Allopathy, Affordability, Indian System of Medicine, Harmonised system.

Why in News?

• The integration of AYUSH system of treatment into mainstream system will give wider acceptance to traditional systems of the country.

Context:

• The global market for herbal medicine was valued at $657.5 billion in 2020. It is expected to grow to $746.9 billion by end 2022. In China, the traditional medicine industry had total revenue of $37.41 billion in 2018, according to an IBIS World Report. In fact, the Healthy China 2030 plan forecasts that the value of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) market may reach $737.9 billion within China and globally by 2030.
• In India, the National Ayush Mission (NAM) was launched in 2014 by the Department of Ayush, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, to promote Ayush systems and address the needs of the sector in a comprehensive way. Providing cost-effective services, strengthening educational systems, quality control of drugs and sustainable availability of raw materials are the main objectives of NAM. The industry is projected to reach $23.3 billion by end 2022, according to a Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), 2021, report. The Indian herbal medicine market is worth $18.1 billion.
• The Indian Ayush sector has grown by 17% between 2014 and 2020. Related segments such as plant derivatives grew by 21%, plant extracts by 14.7%, and herbal plants by 14.3% during the same period.

Objectives of National AYUSH Mission (NAM):

• The objectives of National AYUSH Mission are as follows:
  • To provide cost effective AYUSH Services, with a universal access through upgrading AYUSH Hospitals and Dispensaries, co-location of AYUSH facilities at Primary Health Centres (PHCs), Community Health Centres (CHCs) and District Hospitals (DHs).
  • To strengthen institutional capacity at the state level through upgrading AYUSH educational institutions, State Government Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathy (ASU&H) Pharmacies and enforcement mechanism.
  • Support cultivation of medicinal plants by adopting Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) so as to provide sustained supply of quality raw-materials and support certification mechanism for quality standards, Good Agricultural/Collection/Storage Practices.
  • Support setting up of clusters through convergence of cultivation, warehousing, value addition, marketing and development of infrastructure for entrepreneurs.

Challenges Faced by AYUSH System of Medicine in India:

• Ayurvedic practitioners’ graduation courses are often substandard and the post-graduate courses offered at most of their institutes are of extremely poor quality.
• Lack of trained manpower is a major challenge. Practitioners are moving away from these traditional systems for better opportunities and thus traditional knowledge is getting lost.
• The adequate utilisation of infrastructure and reach would be a major hurdle in making the AYUSH care accessible through NAM.
• By and large, very few Ayurvedic treatments have been successfully validated by well-designed randomised controlled trials (RCTs). Due to this, the vast potential of the science has not been tapped.
• Competition with Allopathy: Competition from popular and entrenched system of medicines such as Allopathy would have to be factored in for the effective implementation of NAM.
• Lack of awareness regarding the AYUSH is another key challenge to be overcome by NAM for effective implementation.
• Ensuring affordability is major concern that NAM has to address to ensure benefits of AYUSH are distributed equitably.

How Traditional System of Medicine Could be Strengthened?

• Prime Minister laid the foundation of the WHO-Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in Jamnagar on April 19, 2022. This will be the first and only global outpost centre for traditional medicine across the world.
• More study is needed, including with clinical trials, to help bring the benefits of traditional and alternative or complementary medicine into wider use, as appropriate, in health systems.
• The inclusion of traditional medicine in the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases by WHO will help to establish reliable data on the use of traditional medicine.
• The National Medicinal Plant Board (NMPB) implements the medicinal plant component of Ayush through state bodies i.e. State Medicinal Plant Boards (SMPBs). The organisational structure of SMPBs needs to be strengthened. They should have experts for conservation, cultivation, R&D, herbal garden and nurseries, IEC and marketing and trade of medicinal plants.
• On the trade front, developing comprehensive databases on Ayush trade, products and raw materials is needed. To date, most ISM (Indian System of Medicine) products, herbal products and medicinal plants products are not identified under specific HS (Harmonised system) codes. Expansion of HS national lines to accommodate various features of traditional medicine and medicinal plant products based on existing requirements is required to provide more comprehensive trade data on Ayurvedic products.

Way Forward:

• NITI Aayog has already constituted a committee and four working groups on integrative medicine, with more than 50 experts across the country, to provide deeper insights and recommendations in the areas of education, research, clinical practice and public health and administration. Considerable progress has been made by the committee for the finalisation of the report. Integration of Ayush systems into mainstream systems will certainly give wider acceptance for traditional systems of the country.
• The Ayush industry in India can provide cost-effective healthcare to people across States. It has all the ingredients of success, to co-exist with the modern health systems, as a choice-based system of traditional medicine.
• There is no doubt about the potential of the sector and the above measures will surely help. However, the Ayush sector requires a multi-dimensional thrust, ranging from initiatives at the institutional level, massive awareness and promotion of cultivation of medicinal plants by farmers, to trade-related interventions and quality focus measures.

Source: The Hindu

Mains Question:

Q. “Ayush industry in India can provide cost-effective healthcare to people across states.” Comment. (250words).