The traditional medical practitioners of Kerala, who met at Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday, appealed to the State Government to recognise the traditional knowledge on medicinal plants as heritage. Handed down the generations, this system of medicine has succeeded in many cases where modern medicine has failed. Instead of calling traditional ‘vaidyans’ frauds and demoralising them, the government should go in for objective experimental analysis of the native wisdom, they requested. The meet, held as part of the silver jubilee celebrations of the Shanthigram, was inaugurated by Annamma Devasya aka ‘Chediyamma’, a traditional medicine practitioner from Mukkom, near Kozhikode. Poet Sugathakumari, health activist K V Sivaprasad of ‘One Earth One Life’, State Resource Centre director Dr T Sundaresan Nair, Shanthigram director L Pankajakshan, State Medicinal Plant Board chief supervisor Dr K G Sreekumar, TBGRI scientist S Rajashekharan and Unicef former project officer A Vaman spoke at the function. Some of the eminent ‘vaidyans’ who took part in the meet include Cherthala K Mohanan Vaidya (naturopathy), Mannarkad M Mathews Vaidyan (Tribal medicine), Chinnan Vaidyar (Traditional medicine), Kozhikode Damodaran Vaidyar (Traditional medicine), Dr Vijayan (Holistic medicine), Dr Gangadharan Chinnangath (Naturopathy), Nedungadappally Sam John (Acupressure) and Dr Swami Padmanabha (Siddha). As many as 200 vaidyans, who took part in the meet, shared their knowledge at the meet.
Source : IBN Live
