Sri Lanka to experience natural healing power of traditional medicines
Saturday, 15 March 2014 00:00
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Sri Lanka recently saw the inauguration of a traditional medical treatment centre at Mahabuthgamuwa, Kotikawatta in the out skits of Colombo under the patronage of Ambassador of the State of Palestine in Sri Lanka, Dr. Anwar H. Al Agha.
Mina Herbal House, the brainchild venture of Dr. M.H.M. Nazeem, a senior Lecturer of the Institute of Indigenous Medicine, University of Colombo, is now ready to offer Sri Lanka the goodness of all herbal medicinal treatments within a convenient and comfortable environment. The centre is mainly offering traditional medicinal treatments of Unani Medical System and also Ayurveda, counselling and psychotherapy.
Traditional medicinal systems are proven to be highly effective against non-communicable diseases. The most important fact to mention is that that these traditional medicinal remedies cause minimal side effects. The secret behind the holistic power traditional medicine is that these remedies go hand in hand with the natural balance of Mother Nature and it has been perfected by centuries. This is the reason why our ancestors lead a long, healthy, happy and wealthy life centuries before, in an era where modern medicine was yet to be discovered.
The Unani Medical system originated in the ancient Greece. It was gifted to the world by Hippocrates who is today considered as the Farther of Medicine. The successor of Hippocrates was Galen, a Greek healer, who later added value to the Principles and Philosophy of Hippocrates especially in the area of human anatomy. Eventually this system has spread across the Middle Eastern regions and it was the Arabs who further improved the system in all aspects including anatomy, philosophy, health promotion and treatment modalities, thus calling it Greeco-Arab Medicine. Text books such as ‘The Canon of Medicine’ by Avicenna and ‘Al-Hawi’ by Razes proves this interconnection. At a time, prior to the emerging of modern medicine which has the history of less than 500 years, Unani Medical system was a front line in providing successful health care facilities to the world.
The Unani medicinal system arrived in Sri Lanka 800 years ago with the Arab merchants whom voyaged the seven seas and there was an emerging demand for the Unani Medical treatment in the country because of its’ efficacy. According to history, during the ancient times our Sri Lankan Kings were the many amongst to seek treatment from Arabic Unani physicians. As a result, Unani system was also considered as one of the indigenous Systems of Sri Lanka like Ayurveda and Siddah Medical systems of India. Unfortunately, these traditional medical systems started to become decline during the successive rule of the country by the foreign rulers.
While addressing the gathering of the opening ceremony Dr. Nazeem stated that the entire world have now realised the importance of time tested and empirically proven traditional medicinal systems should be explored further to provide healthcare services through complementary and alternative medical systems.
“Today the World Health Organisation has taken a decision to explore and give scientific equalisation to the traditional medical systems under the theme of ‘Medicina Alternativa’ to explore the traditional medical systems to treat non-communicable diseases because there is no hope with the conventional medical system to find radical cure for the non-communicable diseases like arthritis, diabetes, hypertension, stroke, etc,” he added.
The Chief Guest at the inaugural ceremony, Ambassador of the State of Palestine in Sri Lanka, Dr. Anwar H. Al Agha in his speech pointed out the benefits of traditional medicine. “These remedies are based on herbal medicine; therefore the side effects are minimal when compared to other medicine we usually use.”
He further stated he is very glad to witness the introduction of natural herbal medicinal systems such as Unani Medicine in Sri Lanka. “We can clearly see the Ministry of Health is giving recognition to the Traditional Medicinal Systems while rendering the fullest support of the government in promoting such alternatives.”
Adding valuable insights on the importance of Traditional Medicinal Systems, Dikowita Dhammakiththi Thero thanked Dr. Nazeem for taking the initiative to improve the holistic healing powers of Medicine to Sri Lanka.
“Today, well known herbal medicinal treatments such as Ayurveda are gaining great reputation across the world. We are a part of Mother Nature. If we act against the nature, that very act results in mass destruction to the human kind as well as to the world. From the beginning of humanity, we lived with nature while respecting the natural balance of the world. These ancestors of ours survived harsh conditions and walked the humankind through centuries up to today because of the medicinal treatments they invented using natural herbal sources. The new illnesses we get to hear in the present indicate the result of mankind walking away from nature and modern science fail or struggle to address these complications. This alone acts as a proof of the strength of herbal medicine.”
The current situation and the future prospective of traditional medicine systems are highly promising as the ‘Mahinda Chinthana,’ the manifesto of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. also emphasises the promotion and dissemination of Ayurveda, Unani, Siddah and other traditional medical system of the country.
The opening of Mina Herbal is strategic step in promoting traditional health care and today we are fortunate to reap the holistic benefits of century’s perfected medicinal systems that provide Unani, Ayurveda and psychotherapy treatment modalities for non-communicable diseases such as arthritis, skin diseases, diabetes paralysis, hypertension and psychological diseases, etc.
The Minda Herbal House is now ready to provide healthcare services with the support of the senior academics and experienced clinicians for various non-communicable diseases. Further details with regard to the Herbal Medicine could be obtained through [email protected].
