MIXOPATHY

Subject : Current Events/ Governance

Context : The Indian Medical Association (IMA), an apex body of doctors in India, has called for a nationwide strike to express its opposition of the government’s decision to allow Ayurvedic practitioners to perform medical surgeries.

Concept :

• On November 19, a government notification listed out specific surgical procedures that a postgraduate medical student of Ayurveda must be “practically trained to acquaint with, as well as to independently perform”.
• The notification has invited sharp criticism from the Indian Medical Association, which questioned the competence of Ayurveda practitioners to carry out these procedures, and called the notification an attempt at “mixopathy”.
• The IMA has done nationwide protests on December 8 against this notification, and has called for withdrawal of all non-essential and non-Covid services.

How far is surgery part of Ayurveda?

• Ayurveda practitioners take pride in the fact that their methods trace their origins to Sushruta, an ancient Indian sage and physician, whose comprehensive medical treatise Sushruta Samhita has also detailed accounts of surgical procedures and instruments.
• There are two branches of surgery in Ayurveda — Shalya Tantra, which refers to general surgery, and Shalakya Tantra which pertains to surgeries related to the eyes, ears, nose, throat and teeth.