'Commercial interests of lobbies to be behind Ayurveda- Allopathy debate'

VHP international president

Vishnu Sadashiv Kokje on Sunday said a tussle among different lobbies over their commercial interests could be behind the ongoing debate between Ayurveda and Allopathy.

He called for a scientific debate on the impact Ayurveda and Allopathy had on COVID-19 patients and asked supporters of both streams of medicine to put forth data of their findings.

Kokje praised Ayurveda saying the medicines used in treatment didn't have any "side effects" on patients.

His remarks came at a time when Yoga guru Ramdev's views on Allopathy have drawn a sharp rebuke from the Indian Medical Association.

Ramdev was forced to withdraw a statement made in the viral video clip in which he was heard questioning some of the medicines being used to treat the coronavirus infection and saying that "lakhs have died from taking allopathic medicines for COVID-19".

"I feel that the fight among different lobbies over a commercial interest was behind the current Ayurveda-Allopathy debate. This is not a scientificdebate," Kokje told PTI.

"The debate should be on a scientific basis on what was the impact of Ayurveda and Allopathy on patients during the pandemic. People from both streams of medicine should put forth data of their findings. There is no point talking about worthless things," he added.

Kokje said patients like the stream of medicine that alleviate their disease.

The senior VHP leader acknowledged that Allopathy has the biggest network in India and "it is hard to keep a distance".

He further said that Allopathic pharmaceutical companies, doctors and others seem to fear that their dominance is at stake.

Kokje said "side effects" are the biggest shortcoming for Allopathy and experts should work toward removing them.

"On the other hand, Ayurvedic medicines do not have any side effects on patients because they are made from herbs. We should make efforts to re-establish the ancient science of Ayurveda which lost its prominence due to thousands of years of our slavery," he said.

Kokje underlined the need for conducting more research in Ayurvedic science to highlight its effectiveness in treating ailments.