Funded by Tata Trusts, the Foundation for the Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions is recording, examining and reviving traditional medicinal practices, to preserve and systematise India's indigenous medical knowledge systems

A narrow kuccha (unpaved) path leads up to three modest whitewashed, single-storied buildings with traditional internal courtyards. A sense of peace and tranquillity is in the air. This is the campus of the Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions (FRLHT), in the village of Yelahanka, outside bustling Bangalore.

Founder-director Darshan Shankar was inspired to set up this institution in 1993, after a 12-year stint working with a tribal community in Karjat, near Mumbai. The community used traditional medical practices to treat not just human beings and animals, but even ailing plants. Over 500 herbs and plants as well as animal products were used to treat different ailments. Some of their medical concepts were based on a like-makes-like principle. One example is the insertion of a piece from a dead turtle's neck into cows, to prevent the prolapse of the uterus after delivery. "It's a simple correlation", explains Mr Shankar. "When a turtle draws its neck inside, it's difficult to bring it out again and the same properties helps cure the cow".

When Western biomedical scientists were unable to establish the efficacy of these traditional practices for lack of sufficient data, Mr Shankar turned to Ayurvedic scholars. "They were able to declare several practices either as sound or incorrect." While Mr Shankar was impressed by the wealth of knowledge to be found in codified medical systems like Ayurveda as well as by the unwritten folk traditions of different ethnic and tribal groups, he was disappointed that this knowledge was not given due importance and recognition in India.

He found a strong ally in Sam Pitroda who is the founder-chairman of FRLHT. Mr Pitroda supported the idea of developing an institute that would not only conserve but also revitalise the traditional Indian medical heritage. "The key word here is revitalise. We are not just an institute for the study of Indian medical heritage or its history. Revitalise means we intend to make something happen", emphasises Mr Shankar.

Through its research FRLHT wants to use this knowledge to create a positive social impact. The foundation's three main areas of work are identifying and conserving natural resources used in traditional Indian medical practices (flora, fauna, metals and minerals), demonstrating possible contemporary uses for this knowledge and social transmission of the information. The belief is that each and every citizen of the country should have access to effective primary health care.

One of FRLHT's major projects has been to conserve entire populations of medicinal and herbal plants in Indian forests, with the help of state governments. This strategy envisages demarcating portions of the forest as preserved areas. "This is an effective and low-cost method of plant conservation in their own natural habitat", says Mr Shankar, "compared to the expensive freeze-dried methods used by many developing nations."

"We have mapped out and documented areas of in-situ conservation which gives information about where particular plants grow, at what latitude, longitude and altitude, in what weather conditions, etc. This also helps us track if any species are endangered" adds Mr Shankar. FRLHT has been able to build a  comprehensive computerised database of approximately 7,500 botanical plants of India.

The campus houses a nursery in which organic plants kits are grown for home gardens. The kits include easy-to-understand manuals and help create awareness about home remedies and promote their use. Says Dr G. G. Gangadharan, joint director and a practising Ayurvedic physician working at FRLHT, "This year we plan to introduce 10,000 herbal home gardens in villages and in Bangalore."

The government of India has appointed FRLHT as the national custodian of its first internationally accredited herbarium — set up in 1995 — which has dried species of plants and herbs from all over the country. The herbarium serves as proof of the existence of plant species in the country. Mr Shankar hopes to expand it in the future and add samples of fauna, metals and minerals used in traditional health practices around the country.

FRLHT's accredited laboratory tests traditional medicines and products as part of its research. It is working to develop methods of standardisation using modern techniques. Laboratory-in-charge Dr Padma Venkat explains: "Traditional healers often depend on subjective parameters like taste, smell and unwritten knowledge to determine the quality of the ingredients and the efficacy of medicines. FRLHT is working to capture and document these using modern methods. This will make the parameters more objective so that any one can check them."

Many companies and entrepreneurs have approached FRLHT for technical guidance and know-how to develop medicinal and health products, including food items like herbal drinks, lemon, coriander and pepper soups, amla candy as well as a sports gel for athletes. "This consultancy not only generates income for the organisation, but also ensures that herbal and natural products sold in the market are of good quality", says Dr Venkat. The laboratory offers guidance and training in handling raw drugs, semi-processing and storage, to optimise production.

Eighteen months ago, the foundation started a small clinic at its campus, where Ayurvedic treatment was made available to the local community. Free medical camps are conducted every month in neighbouring villages. People visit the campus for any further treatment. "We see about 15 to 20 people per week at the clinic," says Dr Gangadharan. Common complaints include stubborn skin conditions, lower back pain, chronic headache, diabetes and obesity.

Next on the agenda is setting up a 100-bed Ayurveda and yoga wellness centre with a research hospital where the best clinical practices in Ayurveda will be made available. The hospital will cater to people from all economic strata. FRLHT hopes that this small beginning will lead to the establishment of similar wellness centres and nursing homes around the country.

Things are certainly looking up for traditional medicine. Worldwide, there is a growing awareness and demand for complementary systems of medicine and a holistic approach to healthcare. According to the US Commission for Alternative and Complementary medicines, Americans spent $17 billion on traditional remedies in 2000. "Not surprising," says Mr Shankar. "Since the second largest cause of hospital admission in the US is the side effects of allopathic medicines."

On a recent visit to Germany, Mr Shankar found that patients wanted allopathic doctors to incorporate traditional alternative medical practices in their treatment. In India too, traditional medicine is the fastest growing segment in the pharmaceutical sector. Large companies like Hindustan Lever, Proctor and Gamble, and Ranbaxy are steadily investing in this sector.

One of the challenges Mr Shankar and his 75-member strong team face is countering social prejudice, especially from those who consider themselves 'educated' and prefer allopathic medical treatment, turning to Ayurveda and alternative healing only when their first preference fails. FRLHT is working hard to change this attitude by establishing the contemporary use of traditional and demonstrating their efficacy. "Medical pluralism is the need of the hour," says Mr Shankar.

In the next five years, the organisation plans to concentrate on dissemination and transmission of traditional medical know-how, preserving old medical manuscripts, promoting taluka-level folk healer associations and commercialising traditional medical products and services, in order to bring them into mainstream health care.

The Sir Dorabji Tata Trust has been supporting FRLHT since 1996. It gave the organisation an initial grant of Rs 500,000 over a two-year period towards two pilot projects: for in-situ conservation of herbal plants in the forest region near Karjat, and ex-situ for a herbal garden park. Later, it gave a corpus grant of Rs 20 million for developing a research centre for botanical and cultural information on medicinal plants.

In March 2005, the Jamsetji Tata Trust, the RD Tata Trust and the Tata Education Trust together gave FRLHT a sum of Rs 150 million for the future work of the institute. Jasmine Pavri, senior programme officer at the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, says: "The organisation is doing pioneering work in the conservation of natural resources and traditional medical research. This falls under our purview of an institutional grant for preserving the environment. The Trust wants to address alternative medical systems and traditions using our heritage."

"When we started the institute," says Mr Shankar, "we had no idea how relevant and important this work would be." He feels that nature is a great teacher and that it is important to record, examine and revive the vast store of knowledge that is in the hands of village and traditional healers, not just for its own sake but to ensure affordable and effective primary health care for all.

The health industry is undergoing a sea change, and analysts predict that any society basing its health care structure only on one medical system will become obsolete within the next two decades. In this context, FRLHT seems to be ahead of the times.

Uploaded on March 9, 2006