Dr. Danister L. Perera Registrar Ayurvedic Medical Council Sri Lanka Status of Using Indigenous Knowledge in Management of HIV / AIDS in Sri Lanka Dr. Danister L. Perera Registrar Ayurvedic Medical Council Sri Lanka

IK in Healthcare in Sri Lanka We are the only country having a separate ministry for Indigenous Medicine Ministry of Indigenous Medcine Department of Ayurveda BMARI NITM Teaching Hospitals Herbal Gardens Sri Lanka Ayurveda Drugs Corporation Ministry of Higher Education University Institutes of Ayurveda / Siddha / Unani Provincial Ministries Provincial Department of Ayurveda District Hospitals Rural Hospitals Central Dispensaries 2005.08.11 DLC Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan Indigenous Knowledgebase Total number of traditional practitioners is 11647 41% (4869) is General Practitioners 59% (6778) is Special or Unisectional 68% of total (17038) registered Ayurvedic practitioners is Traditional Practitioners There are another thousand of local healers unregistered at village level 2005.08.11 DLC Sri Lanka

AIDS as a Disease Entity in IK Low immunity Neurological impairments Digestive and metabolic ailments Impairments with memory Rapid degenerative process Enhancement of cancerous conditions Low libido and strength of virility Microcirculatory impairments Displacement of astral body 2005.08.11 DLC Sri Lanka

IK Aspects of Management of AIDS Biophysical Psychological Astrological / Cosmological Religious / Spiritual Cultural 2005.08.11 DLC Sri Lanka

IK in HIV / AIDS Management IK Involvements in HIV/ AIDS State Private Human Resource Development 00 Research Publications 04 Curative Interventions 08 Seminars / Presentations 06 Product Development 01 National Level Proposals 2005.08.11 DLC Sri Lanka

Contribution of IK Practitioners Number IKPs of reported to be involving in management of HIV / AIDS is very few During last 10 years there were several paper advertisements claming to cure AIDS Three of them were found to be quacks One is amazingly found to be lunatic I have personally interviewed five of these Three were found to be very much knowledgeable on the subject and seemed to have experimental approach They claimed that HIV / AIDS can be cured or controlled 2005.08.11 DLC Sri Lanka

Benefits of Using IK in HIV / AIDS Enhancement of quality of life Pacifying day-to-day health problems Controlling symptoms of AIDS Lowering the rate of spread HIV Improvements of natural immunity Psycho-spiritual harmony Encountering the side effects and complications of drug therapies Complementing the conventional therapy 2005.08.11 DLC Sri Lanka

An Innovative Case Study A hepatitis B case was reported be having HIV positive Cause of HIV is diagnosed as hepatitis B It is concluded that hepatitis B sometimes can be transformed to HIV He claimed that based on that conclusion the case was successfully treated No scientific evidence is traced for HIV negative 2005.08.11 DLC Sri Lanka

Role in National Health System National Policy on ISM Quality Care & Efficacy Plurality in System Role in National Health System Diversity in Knowledge Mainstreaming Best Practices 2005.08.11 DLC Sri Lanka 3

Problems and Issues Lack of a national model for healthcare Constrains in updating and upgrading of TM sector Low recognition of role of TM in ongoing interventions Lack of research and development relating to HIV / AIDS management through IK No encouragement for private sector IKPs for promoting their treatments Benefits of IK is not discussed in national level fora No systematic review or documentation is done on existing data related to this area Lack of financial support from donor agencies 2005.08.11 DLC Sri Lanka

Some problems raised by IKPs Legal constrains Lack of linkage with national level research programmes Scarcity of essential medicines / herbs Lack of financial support Inadequacy of conventional evaluating criteria in treatment results Social barriers created by NGOs Lack of cases 2005.08.11 DLC Sri Lanka

Future and Suggestions Human resource development Research with IK practitioners Pharmaceutical interventions Ethnomedical database Dialogues among stakeholders Policy and legal reforms Sharing best practices 2005.08.11 DLC Sri Lanka