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India's government promotes traditional healing practices
POLICY AND PEOPLE
India’s government promotes traditional healing practices
BSE-testing time for European cattle
T
he European Commission has approved proposals from the Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, David Byrne, requiring all member-states to undertake systematic testing for bovine spongiform encephalitis (BSE) in cattle that are classified as fallen stock. These include animals that die unexpectedly on the farm, sick animals slaughtered in emergencies, or animals displaying neurological symptoms. There are about 400 000 fallen-stock animals each year and the Commission wants member states to check at least 10% of them. The mandate comes amidst allegations that some countries have under-reported or misdiagnosed BSE. The Commission is asking farm ministers to agree to this first community-wide programme to establish BSE. It notes that such a testing programme in Switzerland led to a “significant improvement in monitoring of BSE”. Byrne said the scheme would help build up a better view of the scale of the disease within the EU. “I expect that the proposed new monitoring will provide significantly better information on the incidence of BSE in the community than we have at present”, he said. Karen Birchard
1252
boost to the services of practising vaidyas and hakims of the traditional systems and also give competition to the allopathic doctors who have been operating in a monopoly.
Panos Pictures
ommitted to promoting swadeshi, or indigenous systems, the Indian government, under the Bharatiya Janata Party, is encouraging traditional medical practices such as ayurveda, sidha, unani, yoga, naturopathy, Tibetan medicine, and homoeopathy. The Health Ministry has already doubled its outlay for these systems in the current budget, says Shailaja Chandra, Secretary of the Department of Indian Systems of Medicine and Homeopathy. Last week, the Minister of State for Health, N T Shanmugam, asked all central and regional ministries to include and recognise the traditional systems for reimbursement of medical expenses of employees in the government sector—the largest employer in the country. Some six ministries are understood to have already shown positive interest. When fully implemented, it could provide a solid
C
Business is booming
Shanmugam is also advocating yoga in government offices. A healthy growth of traditional Indian systems—victims of decades of neglect—is now high on the Health Ministry’s agenda. “Despite a huge
infrastructure, the standards are diverse and leave a lot of critical gaps which need to be filled”, says Chandra. A thorough modernisation of infrastructure, training of drug inspectors in traditional drugs, and completion of pharmacopoeias is being actively pursued, she says. Clinical research, including safety and efficacy studies involving allopathic hospitals in half a dozen areas, have also been initiated. India’s domestic drug industry has also been keeping a keen eye on the international market for traditional Indian medicinal products. A herbal “brain tonic” based on brahmi (Centella asiatica, Indian pennywort) and herbal treatment for erectile dysfunction—called “Vigorous”—are already selling well in domestic and international markets. Sanjay Kumar
Enforced sterilisations in Sweden confirmed substantial number of enforced sterilisations were done in Sweden between 1935 and 1975, concluded a government commission report released on March 28. The commission’s report is the result of a 3-year inquiry, which was set up after an exposé by investigative journalist, Maciej Zaremba, in 1997. The issue has been widely debated in the Swedish press, and has given rise to several books. The commission investigated the the effects of two laws, which were passed in 1934 and 1941, under which “legally incapable” people could be sterilised without their consent. The three “indications” for sterilisation were: eugenic (relating to “racial hygiene” or “genetic purity”), social, and medical. Since the current law came into effect in 1976, sterilisation is permitted only at the request of the person concerned. The report states that, between 1935 and 1975, almost 63 000 sterlisations were done in Sweden, of which 32 000 were involuntary. The commission analysed the application documents for the procedures and found that, of the cases it was able to classify, almost 6000 sterilisations were done by coercion. A further 15 000 were done in “quasi-coercive” circumstances, for example, in which the operation was the condition for discharge from an institution or for obtaining an abortion. In a further
A
6000 cases, there were “signs of persuasion or exertion of pressure”. The application of the laws did change over time—in the 1940s, the law consistently affected “weak and underprivileged groups”, but the 1950s were a “watershed”, during which coercion waned. The commission states that opinion was united in favour of the legislation when it was in effect: “The thinking and attitudes that made these laws possible permeated all political and administrative levels”, the report says. However, when looking at the influence of the various professions, including the medical profession, on these sterilisations, the commission found it “difficult to discern any uniform picture”. Commenting to The Lancet, the President of the Swedish Medical Association (SMA), Bernhard Grewin, pointed out that the SMA has investigated the Association’s policy during the period the sterilisation laws were in effect. “As regards sterilisations, it was shown that the SMA was not a prime force behind the sterilisations, but on the other hand it did not take a stance against the government policy”, said Grewin. “It appears that the SMA, and the medical corps in general, accepted what were at that time widespread ideas”, he added. Sarah Ramsay
THE LANCET • Vol 355 • April 8, 2000
India’s government promotes traditional healing practices
BSE-testing time for European cattle
T
he European Commission has approved proposals from the Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, David Byrne, requiring all member-states to undertake systematic testing for bovine spongiform encephalitis (BSE) in cattle that are classified as fallen stock. These include animals that die unexpectedly on the farm, sick animals slaughtered in emergencies, or animals displaying neurological symptoms. There are about 400 000 fallen-stock animals each year and the Commission wants member states to check at least 10% of them. The mandate comes amidst allegations that some countries have under-reported or misdiagnosed BSE. The Commission is asking farm ministers to agree to this first community-wide programme to establish BSE. It notes that such a testing programme in Switzerland led to a “significant improvement in monitoring of BSE”. Byrne said the scheme would help build up a better view of the scale of the disease within the EU. “I expect that the proposed new monitoring will provide significantly better information on the incidence of BSE in the community than we have at present”, he said. Karen Birchard
1252
boost to the services of practising vaidyas and hakims of the traditional systems and also give competition to the allopathic doctors who have been operating in a monopoly.
Panos Pictures
ommitted to promoting swadeshi, or indigenous systems, the Indian government, under the Bharatiya Janata Party, is encouraging traditional medical practices such as ayurveda, sidha, unani, yoga, naturopathy, Tibetan medicine, and homoeopathy. The Health Ministry has already doubled its outlay for these systems in the current budget, says Shailaja Chandra, Secretary of the Department of Indian Systems of Medicine and Homeopathy. Last week, the Minister of State for Health, N T Shanmugam, asked all central and regional ministries to include and recognise the traditional systems for reimbursement of medical expenses of employees in the government sector—the largest employer in the country. Some six ministries are understood to have already shown positive interest. When fully implemented, it could provide a solid
C
Business is booming
Shanmugam is also advocating yoga in government offices. A healthy growth of traditional Indian systems—victims of decades of neglect—is now high on the Health Ministry’s agenda. “Despite a huge
infrastructure, the standards are diverse and leave a lot of critical gaps which need to be filled”, says Chandra. A thorough modernisation of infrastructure, training of drug inspectors in traditional drugs, and completion of pharmacopoeias is being actively pursued, she says. Clinical research, including safety and efficacy studies involving allopathic hospitals in half a dozen areas, have also been initiated. India’s domestic drug industry has also been keeping a keen eye on the international market for traditional Indian medicinal products. A herbal “brain tonic” based on brahmi (Centella asiatica, Indian pennywort) and herbal treatment for erectile dysfunction—called “Vigorous”—are already selling well in domestic and international markets. Sanjay Kumar
Enforced sterilisations in Sweden confirmed substantial number of enforced sterilisations were done in Sweden between 1935 and 1975, concluded a government commission report released on March 28. The commission’s report is the result of a 3-year inquiry, which was set up after an exposé by investigative journalist, Maciej Zaremba, in 1997. The issue has been widely debated in the Swedish press, and has given rise to several books. The commission investigated the the effects of two laws, which were passed in 1934 and 1941, under which “legally incapable” people could be sterilised without their consent. The three “indications” for sterilisation were: eugenic (relating to “racial hygiene” or “genetic purity”), social, and medical. Since the current law came into effect in 1976, sterilisation is permitted only at the request of the person concerned. The report states that, between 1935 and 1975, almost 63 000 sterlisations were done in Sweden, of which 32 000 were involuntary. The commission analysed the application documents for the procedures and found that, of the cases it was able to classify, almost 6000 sterilisations were done by coercion. A further 15 000 were done in “quasi-coercive” circumstances, for example, in which the operation was the condition for discharge from an institution or for obtaining an abortion. In a further
A
6000 cases, there were “signs of persuasion or exertion of pressure”. The application of the laws did change over time—in the 1940s, the law consistently affected “weak and underprivileged groups”, but the 1950s were a “watershed”, during which coercion waned. The commission states that opinion was united in favour of the legislation when it was in effect: “The thinking and attitudes that made these laws possible permeated all political and administrative levels”, the report says. However, when looking at the influence of the various professions, including the medical profession, on these sterilisations, the commission found it “difficult to discern any uniform picture”. Commenting to The Lancet, the President of the Swedish Medical Association (SMA), Bernhard Grewin, pointed out that the SMA has investigated the Association’s policy during the period the sterilisation laws were in effect. “As regards sterilisations, it was shown that the SMA was not a prime force behind the sterilisations, but on the other hand it did not take a stance against the government policy”, said Grewin. “It appears that the SMA, and the medical corps in general, accepted what were at that time widespread ideas”, he added. Sarah Ramsay
THE LANCET • Vol 355 • April 8, 2000