Manik was suffering from a hacking cough triggered by an unidentified allergy. A long list of prescribed drugs had left her heavy-headed and lethargic. It was her good fortune that she found a fine Ayurvedic doctor who gave her talishadi powder. Honeyed over, the paste soothed her hoarseness and she was her normal self soon enough, minus any side-effects.

That India accepts medical pluralism and five drug-based systems-Allopathy, Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, Homeopathy- are all covered by the Drugs & Cosmetics Act (D&C) 1940 is not commonly known. These systems have been in regular use for centuries but were given statutory recognition more than four decades ago. All medicine (unless prepared by an individual Vaidya or Hakim) has to be li censed and follow the pharmacopoeial standards and quality control regulations set out in the D&C Act. But it is also true that barring some twenty renowned Ayurvedic companies, hundreds of concoctions making wild claims and skirting quality control regulations are marketed in all states with shifting degrees of enforcement. This naturally deters a discerning public from using the Indian systems, unsure both about the presence of essential ingredients and the absence of impurities.............click for more

Source: Shailaja Chandra's Blog

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