Integrative medicine policy will set back healthcare by a century: IMA on ‘mixopathy’

NEW DELHI: Days after the Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya reiterated the government’s plan of setting up a separate integrative medicine division in all medical colleges and hospitals, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has called it a “anti-people policy”.

The health ministry had urged the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurological Sciences (NIMHANS) to study the idea of incorporating the role of Indian traditions in medical syllabus and to help in formulation of the policy.

“The ministry of health has reiterated its resolve to implement Integrative medicine. Integrative Medicine is better understood by the term Mixopathy which denotes mixing of all systems of medicine,” IMA said.

“Khichadification of medical education seems to be the starting point. The purpose of integrating all systems of medicine is unknown. 650 medical colleges in the country are turning out 99,063 MBBS doctors every year. There is no case for pleading shortage of doctors,” the IMA said in a statement.

In November 2020, the government issued a notification authorizing post-graduate Ayurveda practitioners to be trained to perform general surgical procedures. The IMA has resisted the move allowing practitioners of alternative disciplines of medicine to perform surgery from the inception and staged several protests.

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Stating that it is “impossible” to mix different systems of medicine without “catastrophic fallout on patient care and safety”, the association said, “Today Indian modern medicine doctors are adequately skilled to perform any sophisticated surgery or procedure that India is a much sought-after destination for medical tourism.”

“Safeguarding the purity and legacy of Ayurveda will enrich our traditional medicine. Mixing of systems will ring the death knell of Ayurveda. The loss of lives and suffering due to this unscientific mixing will be phenomenal,” it said.

If the government moves forward with the integrative medicine policy, healthcare in India will be set back by a century, the medical association said.

Highlighting the drawbacks of implementing the policy, IMA said: “All MBBS doctors will be from Integrative medicine by 2030. That means these doctors will practice and administer drugs from all systems of medicine simultaneously . There will not be doctors from modern medicine alone as we know now.” It further appealed to people to understand the impact of the “ill-advised decision”.

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The IMA said that China is the only country which practices integrative medicine, however, India does not follow the Chinese model of healthcare. The Chinese traditional medicine (CTM) has been decimated and is no longer practiced in its pure form due to integration, the IMA said.