Significant numbers of traditional healers, having a family tradition going back to generations, still exist in Kathmandu Valley. These groups of traditional practitioners are deeply rooted in the culture of Ayurveda. They have aspired to reach the cultural values, norms, and respect of the people. They are readily available and work as a member of close relatives or family members and are capable of managing a diversity of health problems with locally available resources. They are the repository of this culture and science, and are the wealth of the nation.
Traditional healers continuing their practice from generation to generation as family profession are able to treat majority of common diseases, and they prepare varieties of Ayurvedic drugs themselves. But those who have learned the knowledge from different sources, are just treat only certain particular diseases like jaundice, stomachache, gastric, gano-gola etc, and don’t have adequate knowledge or don’t put interest on other health disorders.
Family tradition, respect from the locals, business as source of income and are major reason why the traditional healers are continuing their practice even if there is no interest in the context of dominant modern medicine. Traditionally they are closely attached with their profession but under the pressure of modern science, even in their family nobody wants to continue the traditional profession. Due to the change of socio- psychology and the culture of education patterns, present generations of traditional healers are not following their parent’s practices and knowledge. This presents the problem that there is a realistic threat of extinction of this knowledge in our country.
Majority of healers don’t charge consultancy fee directly. The cost of medicine is also reasonable in except in few cases. Therefore services and drugs of local traditional healers are financially affordable for the poor people. But, those who are commercially established in cities are not cheap. It was found in a research that the cost of treatment ranges from below five hundred rupee (sometimes just one hundred) to above two thousand for treatment of jaundice depending up on severity and status of healer. Not for all diseases, but for some diseases like jaundice, asthma, joint pain, stomachache, gastric, gano-gola etc, people’s belief and attitude on traditional medicine seems positive. People with the problems of joint pain, gastric, ulcer, stomachache, asthma etc and some of with sexual problems including infertility, sterility etc suffering since long time seek natural drugs.
Knowledge and technology which, traditional healers have been practicing should be preserved and also need scientific intervention for further research that may contribute even for the modern medical system. The next generations are not supposed to succeed their profession because of modernization. An urgent step for its preservation and development is a must; otherwise we will lose such cultural heritage due to unethical practices or piracy by outsiders.
(By BN Khaniya. Published in THT in 20 April 2004)
