Every medical college must have Department of Integrative Medicine Research, NMC calls for integration of Modern Medicine and AYUSH

Kozhikode: In order to promote integration of modern medicine with homeopathy and Indian systems of medicines including Ayurveda, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has made it mandatory for all the medical colleges to have a "Department of Integrative Medicine Research".

The decision in this regard was taken at the first joint meeting of NMC with the functionaries of the National Commission for Homoeopathy (NCH) and the National Commission for Indian Systems of Medicine (NCISM).

While the meeting was conducted on June 29, Kannur-based ophthalmologist and RTI activist Dr K.V. Babu obtained this information by filing a Right to Information (RTI) query.

Apart from this, the recent changes in the MBBS curriculum including the mandatory Yoga practice was also raised in the NMC meeting.

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As per the latest media report by The Hindu, the chairman of NMC, Suresh Chandra Sharma revealed in the RTI reply that the meeting discussed the best methods and scientific manners for integrating the modern medicine with homeopathy and Indian medicine systems to develop all the three sectors. In this regard, he further mentioned that the integration process should help people to prevent, cure and control diseases.

Referring to the mandatory 10 days Yoga practice for the MBBS students and faculties, the president of the UG Medical Education Board (UGMEB) of NMC, Dr. Aruna. V. Vanikar informed that this new Yoga curriculum would commence on June 10 every year and conclude on the International Day of Yoga.

For this, the MBBS curriculum already includes a module that has been prepared by the Morarji Desai Institute of Yoga, New Delhi. Further adding that Yoga lessons would be given by male and female instructors, Dr. Vanikar further mentioned about the possibility of including Yoga in the theory part "subject to its acceptability".

In the meeting the chairperson of NCH, Anil Khurana suggested the possibility of MBBS students undergoing one-week internship in AYUSH systems in Homeopathy colleges. He opined that this would help the medical students "gain awareness and respect for other system of medicine".

Expressing the need for having the right perception about homeopathy in society, Dr. Khurana further requested for caution while preparing regulations so that disrespect about other systems of medicines can be avoided.

At this outset, he also claimed that there was a wrong perception about the quality of AYUSH research not being up to the mark and pointed out how research revealed that death rate in Japanese encephalitis cases had reduced by 15% because of homeopathy treatment.

Meanwhile, the chairman of NCISM, Vaidya Jayant Deopujari referre to the separate terms of "integration" and requested for a consensus. He pointed out that while the postgraduate system of medicine offered clarity in respect to the nomenclature in modern medicine, the same was lacking in Ayurveda and it was resulting in confusion.

While NMC is supporting the integration of modern medicine with homeopathy and Ayurveda, Dr. Babu expressed his dissatisfaction over this stand of NMC. Speaking to The Hindu in this regard, he said, "From the above documents, it is clear that the dissolution of the Medical Council of India and its replacement with the NMC was for promoting unscientific 'mixopathy' calling it integration. It will be a disaster if this trend continues."

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