Samanvaya: conference on alternative medicine.

SAMANVAYA: Conference on alternative medicine was organized by Department of Community Medicine, Sri Devaraj Urs Medical College (SDUMC), Kolar, Karnataka, India a constituent institution of Sri Devaraj Urs Academy of Higher Education and Research (SDUAHER), a deemed to be University, on 20th and 21st September 2013 with the theme “Enriching health care by integrating alternative medicine with conventional medicine”. Conference was inaugurated by Dr. R Nagarathna, Ex-Dean S-VYASA Yoga University, Bangalore. Shri. RL Jalappa, President SDUAHER; Dr. PF Kotur, Vice-chancellor, SDUAHER; Dr. Ram Manohar, Director, AVP Research Foundation, Coimbatore; Dr. MH Chandrappa, Coordinating Officer, SDUAHER; Dr. AVM Kutty, Registrar, SDUAHER; Dr. MB Sanikop, Dean, Faculty of Medicine and Principal, SDUMC; Dr. Muninarayana C, HOD, Department of Community Medicine; and Dr. Anil NS, Organizing Secretary, presided the function. The vice chancellor of the academy Dr. PF Kotur in his inaugural address highlighted the need of integrating alternative medicine with conventional medicine which is already being practiced in developed countries like America (e.g., Center for Integrative Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA) under the department of integrative medicine. He emphasized the need for evidence based integrative medicine. He also appraised that, SDUAHER is eager to initiate, the Department of Integrative Medicine in RL Jalappa hospital, Kolar, Karnataka, India. Shri. RL Jalappa, in his presidential address narrated the benefits of receiving Ayurveda treatment in Kerala for his poor vision, which was not responding to conventional treatment taken in India and abroad.

Dr. R. Nagarathna, in her keynote address mentioned that, countries like China have successfully integrated Chinese medicine with conventional medicine in their medical education curriculum. She also highlighted about AYUSHGRAMA project which is a public private partnership program initiated by the Government of India, to take healthcare for villagers at the doorsteps through Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Sidda, and Homeopathy (AYUSH) systems of medicine. Dr. Ram Manohar, Director, AVP Research Foundation, Coimbatore in his thought provoking lecture, highlighted that India has a potential to become global leader in evidence based integrative medicine, as it already has both established AYSUH systems of medicine and conventional medicine. He also quoted regarding the first ever National Institute of Health (NIH), US funded a double blind study conducted in collaboration with Arya Vaidya Pharmacy Research Foundation, Coimbatore, to test the efficacy of Ayurveda medicine in rheumatoid arthritis. He also appraised the need of evidence based complementary and alternative medicine practice. Dr. Muninarayana C, Professor and Head, Department of Community Medicine briefed on ‘public health challenges in integrating alternative medicine with conventional medicine’. Dr. Manoj Naik, BKS Iyengar Yoga, Pune correlated Yoga with modern medicine through demonstration of various asanas (Yogic postures) and their benefits in different ailments. Dr. Patil NJ, Assistant Professor, Allied Health Sciences, SDUAHER demonstrated ‘Yoga nidra’ (Yogic relaxation technique). He narrated about positive impact of ‘Kirtan Kriya Meditation’ on frontal cortex and posterior cingulate of the brain. The second day began with a talk by Dr. GG Gangadharan, Additional Director, Foundation for Revitalization of Local Health Traditions, Bangalore who spoke on ‘Public health strategies to integrate modern medicine with Ayurveda’. Dr. Srinivasa Prasad, Principal, KLE's BMK Ayurveda Mahavidyalaya, Belgaum, spoke on ‘Scope and means of integrating Ayurveda and conventional medicine’. He also said when all pathies like allopathy, naturopathy, and homeopathy fail; people opt for Tirupathi, that is, spiritual medicine. Dr. Prassana Kumar, Professor and HOD, Father Muller's Homeopathy Medical College, Mangalore, briefed about ‘Prospects of integrating homeopathy with conventional medicine’. During the afternoon session Dr. MA Ramamurthy, Naturopathy and Yoga Consultant, Jindal Nature Cure, Bangalore delivered inspirational talk on ‘Integration of naturopathy with conventional medicine, by quoting examples from his professional life experiences’. Dr. Shyamaraj, SDM Yoga and nature cure hospital, Pareeka, Manipal spoke about ‘Nature cure as emerging traditional healing system’. Dr. G. Shivaraman, Managing Director, Arogya Siddha Hospital, Chennai, spoke about ‘Effective management of noncommunicable diseases with integration of Siddha medicine’. Dr. Roohi Zaman, Reader, Department of Unani Pharmacy, National Institute of Unani Medicine, Bangalore, spoke about ‘Challenges in integrating conventional medicine with Unani’. The final session was by Dr. Naveen KV, FAITHS, Bangalore who stressed about the need for evidence-based integrative medicine in India and presented a list of universities and institutes in the western countries, which have successfully established department of integrative medicine.

CONCLUSION

In two days brain storming conference, experts from Allopathy-AYUSH (A-AYUSH) delivered their presentations, which probed on the theme ‘Enriching healthcare by integrating alternative medicine with conventional medicine’. The conference concluded that, integrative medicine is the need of the hour, as present system is lacking in providing complete healthcare as per the definition of WHO. Each stream of medicine has its own merits and demerits. It's imperative to explore best out of all AYUSH specialties and then integrate with conventional medicine. But systematic research needs to be carried out, to explore their safety and efficacy before its implementation. In addition, AYUSH needs to be incorporated in the present conventional medicine curriculum as of China. Government and private organizations have to organize these kinds of conferences, workshops, and seminars to achieve A-AYUSH model for providing holistic healthcare.