Asian Medicine and Globalization by Alter Joseph S.;

Author:Alter, Joseph S.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.

The Potential for Traditional Systems of Indian Medicine in the AIDS Pandemic

With respect to HIV/AIDS, people working for the Indian government and for nongovernmental public health organizations, as well as some involved in medical education, have been calling for greater research into the possible beneficial uses of traditional Indian medicine to treat HIV/AIDS. Organizations such as WHO, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), UNAIDS, and the Population Foundation of India have actively organized meetings to address this issue, spurred on, in part, by the fact that traditional medicines found in east and southern Africa are said to yield positive results.16

In January 2000 a three-day international conference was held in Gujarat, attended by six hundred delegates who convened at the Gujarat Ayurved University to think collectively about the role Āyurveda could play in the fight against AIDS. At this convention Governor Sundar Singh Bhandari told delegates that the “Modern medical system had lost its hold on [the] holistic approach. With adverse drug reactions, people were looking for safe, alternative approaches … Āyurveda with its rich drugs obtained from nature and its philosophy of holistic approach could be a suitable alternative.” He said that new research into the efficacy of Āyurveda in combating the AIDS epidemic “could be beneficial for [the] globalization of Āyurveda.”17 Addressing the same conference, the Gujarat state health minister also promoted the use of Āyurveda to combat AIDS, stating that “with the advent of the twenty-first century it was imperative that people have the inner strength to fight cultural invasion.” It is not clear whether he was suggesting that AIDS itself has spread to India due to “cultural invasion,”18 or whether “cultural invasion” refers to biomedicine. Regardless, he clearly views Āyurveda as an Indian weapon against this invasion.

Also speaking in 2000, the head of the department of internal medicine in Lokmanya Tilak Hospital in Mumbai echoed the widespread assumption that AIDS is caused by cultural “lifestyle” changes associated with modernity and views as a solution traditional Indian medical practices that engage holistic mind-body regimens: “High blood pressure, coronary artery diseases, diabetes, or even AIDS are caused by drastic lifestyle changes. The quality, quantity, composition and timing of our meals are incorrect. We should reduce the intake of the three ‘s’—saturated fat, salt and sugar and increase the other ‘s’—sports, salads, and spirituality.”19

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