AYUSH Doctors Can Now Prescribe Allopathic Medicines in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: The doctors of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) in the state will soon prescribe allopathic medicines.

The state government has decided to impart short-term trainings to the practitioners of alternative medicines and allow them to write selected allopathic drugs to patients, official sources said.

A section of the medical fraternity feels such a move undermine both allopathic and the alternative systems of medicines while others welcome it.

As per the government move, the AYUSH doctors will be given a few weeks' training of on a curriculum to be prepared by the state-run Institute of Health and Family Welfare. The training will be on basic management of primary health centres, patient care and leadership. After that the health department will come out with a standard treatment protocol and list of allopathic drugs, which the AYUSH doctors can prescribe, the sources said.

Confirming the move, N.K.Das, special secretary in the health department, said the AYUSH doctors will be trained only to prescribe certain limited allopathic medicines which even pharmacists, auxiliary nurse midwives (ANMs) and accredited social health activists (ASHAs) are handling. "It will help in better implementation of various national health programmes such as for malaria control," he said.

Director public health Kailash Das said the doctors will be involved in preventive healthcare apart from practising their core areas. "This will help meet acute shortage of doctors at the primary health centres (PHCs) level," he said.

Source: Times of India