Reimagining India's national health system (NHS)

Abstract

In the light of the poor performance of the National Health System as a whole, the article argues the case for the urgent re-imagination and recalibration of the roles of legally approved, health knowledge systems. The article suggests that the analysis of ten years' retrospective clinical data (around 100 million records) from the most reputed Allopathic and Ayurveda clinical establishments may serve as a reliable source of information on the actual performance of different knowledge systems. This strategy for evidence generation, argues the author, is perhaps more realistic than analysis of fragmented clinical and preclinical data from trials and experiments. The article also reviews the quality of evidence and societal performance of western medicine during the last 70 years. The plural health seeking behaviour of millions of citizens, suggest that in the 21st century, a creative, functional, reliable form of integrative healthcare is imperative.

Keywords: Ayurveda; Biomedicine; History of medicine; Integrative healthcare; National health system; Plural.