Mainstreaming Ayurveda

This book brings concepts, practices of Ayurveda and its interface with modern health care set-up in Delhi, India. It presents a new conceptual framework in studying public health in India, offers policy recommendations and outlines the challenges of mainstreaming of alternative medical systems in India. Drawing on a wealth of primary data that looks at the social profile of patients, gender, disease profile of patients, prescriptions, average cost per prescription and kinds of medicines prescribed, the monograph explores patterns of health behaviour through the perceptions of doctors and patients, administrators and their negotiations with the bureaucratic health structure. It analyses the power and structures between practitioners of modern medicine and Ayurvedic doctors and the issues of cross referral and formal and informal levels of interaction/network between the two medical systems. Engaging with current debates around public health in India, the volume will be of interest to scholars and researchers of public health and sociology of health and medicine, public policy and public administration and South Asian studies.

Sharmistha Mallick teaches Sociology in the Department of Sociology at Kamala Nehru College of University of Delhi in India. She specializes in the fields of Medical Anthropology, Sociology of Health and Medicine, Urban Studies and Sociology of Music. She completed her studies from Delhi School of Economics and Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She has published research articles in journals and edited volumes including in Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine and Indian Journal of Public Health. She has also been part of the national and international projects including DAAD-UGC and ICSSR.

Introduction: Setting the Debates 1 Mainstreaming Ayurveda in Independent India: A Review of Policies and Committees 2 'Fitting' into the Frame: Ayurveda in Delhi's Public Health Institutions 3 Ayurvedic Doctors in Public Health Institutions: Perceptions, Practices and Relations 4 Sarkari Ayurveda in Sarkari Hospital: 'Choices' for Patients Conclusion