New Delhi:Patanjali Research Institute approached the Delhi High Court as an intervener to support for a petition seeking the adoption of an Indian holistic approach in medical education and practice instead of the colonial segregated way of having different streams of allopathy, ayurveda, yoga and homeopathy.Patanjali said it was intervening in support of the prayers made in the main petition filed by advocate and petitioner Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay. The high court was also informed the central government has filed an affidavit in response to the petition.
A bench of Chief Justice S C Sharma and S Prasad noted the intervention application seeking to be impleaded as a party to the petition. It granted one week’s time to the applicant institute to bring the petition on record.
The petition has claimed the adoption of a holistic approach in the medical field which would be a combination of modern and traditional medicine at the level of education, training, practice, and policies and regulations, would secure the right to health guaranteed under Articles 21, 39(e), 41, 43, 47, 48(a) and 51A of the Constitution and improve the country’s doctor to population ratio as well as the health care sector.
The Centre in its affidavit has said the right to practice any profession is a fundamental right guaranteed under the Constitution but that right is subject to any law relating to the professional qualifications necessary for practicing any profession.There can be no compromise on professional standards of medical practitioners, the affidavit said.It submitted that NITI Aayog, Health and Family Welfare Division, has constituted a committee on formulation of Integrative Health Policy vide office memorandum of August 13, 2020 to examine and submit its report on several terms of reference.
The petitioner has said an integrated health system is present in several countries including China, Japan, Korea, and Germany, and claimed that coordination of all medical systems will benefit patients.It stated that modern medicine practitioners have remained confined to their niche which has restricted their practice and cannot benefit the diseased individuals by using other therapeutic regimens.
The petitioner has emphasised the negative impact of the expanded pharmaceutical industry and said the so-called revolutionary medical innovations have in long-run proven to be dangerous causing severe and long-term side-effects but Centre is not introducing Holistic Integrated Healthcare System.
An Integrated Health System is the only solution to achieve the sustainable health goal of India. Commonly preferred allopathic medicine is chiefly comprised of approximately 40 per cent plant-derived components (USDA Forest Service 2021).If allopathic medicine is originally made of constituents of AYUSH then why can we not directly accept them as part of our regular medicinal support system, the petition said.