Multidisciplinary Approaches to Integrate Traditional Medicines with Rural Development Rabish Chandra, Subhash C Mandal, Kamini Kumar*, Jyoti Kumar*. Jadavpur University, Kolkata- 700 032 *Ranchi University, Ranchi, Jharkhand.
http://www.rasayu.com/e-journal/vol_1_6.html Conclusion There should be an aim at creating an alternative approach for rural health care and an alternative source of income for rural communities. Both local and external actors should be involved to integrate traditional medicine system with sustainable development in the form of natural resource management with an understanding of its ecological, socio-economical and cultural practices. Any action for rural health will certainly lead to the development of rural society. This can only be achieved through the consensus building between the local communities and expert professionals of different disciplines. There is a need of modern layering to ethnomedicinals constables (local traditional healers). A certification method should be adopted. These trained and certified ethnomedicinal practitioners should be engaged in alternative traditional medicine clinics for primary health care. Ayurvedic graduates with specialized expertise may use their potential for secondary and tertiary health services more effectively. Training and certification for traditional ethnomedicinal practitioners can be developed with the help of expert professionals of ayurveda, siddha, unani and homeopathy. Ethnobotanist can work with traditional healers and ayurvedic doctors to incorporate and evaluate the benefits of both stream while promoting conservation of plant and plant habitats. Local persons rely wholly on the traditional medicines prescribed by local traditional herbal practitioner. These traditional medicines need exploration and documentation. The particular relationships between agroforestry, alternative land users and health tend to context specific, so botanist (other researchers) are required to carry out more studies across a range of contexts are needed. Agroforestry based on health and nutrition may include the ethnic herbs used as food by different tribes. Ayurveda and other related disciplines of traditional medicine needs remodeling of their syllabi so that the interdisciplinary exercises for evaluation and investigation can be dealt. Training programmes for traditional herbal practitioner and farmers need to be initiated with an aim to strengthen the interlinking and consistency of raw materials. The dream of International Institute of Integrative Medicine should be supplemented / complemented by courses like PG diploma in Medicinal Plants (functional at Ranchi University, Ranchi, India), PG Diploma in Traditional medicines systems etc. One of the authors (JK) advocates for local herbal practitioners to act as a teacher in these types of institutes. Government policies should be revised for the betterment of resources and infrastructure used in herbal drug development. Researchers at all level and discipline should be provided with adequate facilities and funds. Attracting young generation both at the level of research and practicing traditional medicine will help in achieving long term vision. Extending the new findings to the last man of society with the help of Non Government Organisation will help in blending traditional medicine, rural health and development. Shrikant Vinayak Barve 9403175973 Explore and discover exciting holidays and getaways with Yahoo! India Travel http://in.travel.yahoo.com/
