We live in a complex world, of myriad identities but the ironies are delicious. On one hand, we are promoting everything digital, from smart cities to smart healthcare. On the other hand, we are going back to our past, celebrating our heritage of holistic healing. Every nation has its own system of healing, and we’ve borrowed the best. For instance, the Unani system has its roots in faraway Greece but there is a strong following in India and across the world.
The traditional system of healing, which was for long the only system, slowly became the alternative. Today, AYUSH is termed alternative or complementary, when shouldn’t it actually be the other way around? When we talk of integrating AYUSH into mainstream medicines, wasn’t AYUSH mainstream once upon a time?
Be it any one of the facets of what today has been clubbed into the acronym AYUSH, the guiding principle is to prevent illness, preserve good health and thus these systems treat the root of the problem even before it escalates into a problem. Yes, it needs patience and a willingness to make lifestyle changes but the payback is huge.
In our personal lives too, we use high tech gadgets but for many moms, a hot water gargle, with the goodness of a pinch of turmeric, is the first recourse for a scratchy throat to keep that winter chill at bay. Of course, there is no way you can get a teenager to take to the latter, without a lot of nagging. It’s so much easier to ignore the sore throat till it escalates into a full fledged infection. Then it’s much more convenient to pop pills for the throat infection. And another set of pills for the acidity caused by the antibiotics.
The heartening trend is that AYUSH players are going all out to woo a new generation of consumers, both in India as well as globally. For example, one manufacturer has packaged the goodness of Chawanprash in a capsule, to entice consumers of all ages to continue the childhood pratices of having a spoonful of this immunity boosting jam once a day. There are many more such examples of AYUSH shedding its skin and emerging as a sleeker version. The goodness of granny packaged into a sleek capsule. As the second and third generation of promoters takes over the helm, they are coming into their own and adding their ideas to the product portfolio. And this time, they are coming back with a bang, with evidence to back their claims. AYUSH companies are thus today well placed to tap new age consumers.
And in yet another delicious irony, doctors and hospitals are rediscovering the worth of this age old healing process and adding it to their armamentarium against disease. The AYUSH revival received a well-timed and long awaited push from the central government, with PM Modi himself leading the charge by instituting a world Yoga Day.
Our December issue addresses this trend and its impact on the practice of medicine in India. Do read the issue for insightful articles from and interviews with industry experts.
Just as modern medicine is looking for new ideas from the old, established companies are turning to start ups for new ideas. They hope to imbibe their agility, while mentoring them through the difficult start up years. For example, take Bosch India’s start up accelerator programme- DNA, which aims to Discover, Nurture and Align start-ups in a couple of areas, meditech included. What’s really interesting is that the German company was so excited by India’s start up culture that it broke with tradition and decided to make external start-ups part of this programme. The press release very candidly states that by mentoring and making these start-ups investment ready, ‘Bosch would be able to hedge itself against possible disruptions often hovering over traditional businesses.’ Many states in India too are putting out the red carpet for innovators, as they are sure that at least some of them will go on to be successful companies and generate both employment and revenue for their region.
As we end 2016 and gear up for a new year of challenges and opportunities, Express Healthcare wishes all our readers the very best for 2017. With a bit of the old and the new, we are sure India will beat the odds and cement its space in the global arena.
Viveka Roychowdhury
Editor
- Advertisement -
Comments are closed.