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| Wednesday, 10 November 2004 |
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by Chamikara Weerasinghe The medical practitioners of Ayurvedic Medical Council yesterday hit out at the Western medical establishment accusing it of trying to dominate other medical systems thus posing a threat to the professional identity and dignity of 16,OOO traditional medical practitioners in the country. The convenor of the Action Committee on Ayurvedic and Indigenous Medical Education and Professional Development, Attorney-at-Law Dr. E.M. Parakrama Ekanayake said that the Western Medical Authority was planning to bring in law reforms to empower their Medical Officers of Health (MOHs) to conduct raids on traditional practitioners to inquire into their qualifications. The members of the Action Committee for Ayurvedic and Indigenous Medical Education and Professional Development, were speaking at a press conference at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute, Colombo 7. "This action has challenged the authority of the Ayurvedic Medical Council. Why is it that a bunch of MOHs belonging to Western Medical system should investigate the credentials of Ayurvedic doctors," he asked. Registrar of Ayurveda Medical Council, Dr. Danister L.Perera said , the Western medical establishment had claimed themselves to have 10,000 medical practitioners which they assert are the authentic doctors in the country through media, while branding others as "quacks". "We are prepared to take any kind of action to defeat this sort of nonsense be it trade union, political or otherwise," Dr. Perera said. Explaining the situation, the president of Government Ayurvedic Medical Officers' Association Dr. Nimal Karunasiri said that the existing Medical Ordinance under which the allopathic system comes appears to be more powerful than the Ayurvedic Act. "This is because the Medical Ordinance had been created during the colonial rule. The present Western medical practitioners are attempting to use these provisions to suppress the Ayurvedic system which existed in the country long before the advent of colonial era," he said. "I believe that every national hospital in the country should have an Ayurvedic medical section as well. This has been overlooked so far by the authorities due to the administrative powers enjoyed by Western practitioners," he said. "We have communicated this idea to the Indigenous Medicine Minister Tissa Karaliyadda to be channelled to the Health Minister as a means to restore the rightful position to Ayurvedic Medical practice against any discrimination," he added. |
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