THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Sam Pitroda, chairman of the National Innovation Council and advisor to the Prime Minister on IT Infrastructure, Public Information and Innovations, said that ayurveda doctors were underutilised in this country where there was a huge shortage of doctors. He was inaugurating an awareness campaign on ayurveda for children in connection with the Global Ayurveda Festival on Wednesday. “How we deliver health is very important. We invest huge amounts in modern medicine but we don’t invest in traditional medicine. The challenge is to build bridges between ayurveda and allopathy. Instead we are building walls,” said Sam Pitroda adding that his biggest dream would be to have one ayurveda wing in every modern hospital. Sam Pitroda said his association with ayurveda goes back a long way, as a child who grew up in a tribal village in Orissa when his mother would grind a few leaves for common ailments or fight ear infection with a few drops of oil, all examples of low cost medicine. “Unfortunately ayurveda is still not mainstream medicine. We follow American model of medicine because it is fashionable. You should also remember that 15 to 16 percent of the GDP of the US goes for health costs, which is not sustainable or desirable in India,” said Pitroda. He pointed out that India needs a health system that is both affordable and scalable. It has to come from ayurveda, Unani or traditional medicine. ‘’We have a living and evolving tradition that has been around for millions of years, yet they need trials to make it more acceptable,’’ he said.
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