A Report on The International Convention on World Homoeopathy Day

ByDr Amrit Kalsi MD (Hom), CMO, Directorate of AYUSH

The International Convention on World Homoeopathy Day was held 9 th&10thApril, 2016 at VigyanBhawan, New Delhi to to commemorate the 261st birth anniversary of the founder of Homoeopathy, Dr. Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann. The convention was jointly organized by Central Council for Research in Homeopathy (CCRH), an autonomous research organization of Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India and an international organisation LigaMedicorumHomeopathicaInternationalis (LMHI) with the support of Ministry of AYUSH.

The theme of the Convention was ‘Integrating Homoeopathy in healthcare’, and the Convention aimed at highlighting the health and cost benefits of integrating Homoeopathy in healthcare among the health professionals and policymakers, by way of scientific evidence and rich clinical experiences.

Shri Shripad Yesso Naik, Hon’ble Minister of State (IC) for AYUSH inaugurated the convention greeted the people of India on the occasion of World Homoeopathy Day. While remembering Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of Homoeopathy, Sh. Naik said that his birth anniversary was a wakeup call up for all the medical professionals to rededicate themselves to safe and effective treatment, an approach taught by Dr

Hahnemann. The Minister shared with the delegates the government’s intention to utilise AYUSH systems optimally with the sole objective of betterment of health in the country.

Lamp lighting ceremony of the international convention on World Homoeopathy Day

The convention was attended by scientists and homoeopathy doctors from 23 countries including Brazil, Russia, South Africa, Italy, Netherlands, U.K., Austria, Armenia, Canada, Israel, Australia, Bangladesh, Japan, France, UAE, Cuba, Nepal, Turkey, Argentina, Slovenia, Pakistan, Ghana and Kenya.

Among the invited guests were Mohd. Nasim, Minister of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of Bangladesh, Mr. MushtaqAlam, Minister of State for Health, Govt. of Nepal, Mrs. FoziaManzoor, Counsellor of High Commission, Pakistan and Mr. Anura Jayawickrama, Health Secretary, Sri Lanka.

Also present were Dr. Manoj Rajoria, Hon’ble Member of Parliament, Member, Standing

Committee on Health & Family Welfare, Shri. Francis D'souza, Deputy Chief Minister,

Govt. of Goa, Shri. Anil Vij, Hon’ble Minister of Health, Govt. of Haryana, Shri. Karan

Singh, Hon’ble Minister of Ayurveda, Govt. of Himachal Pradesh (India), Shri. U.T.

Khader, Hon'ble Minister of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of Karnataka, Shri. Atanu

Sabyasachi Nayak, Hon'ble Minister, Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of Odisha, Shri.

Lal Thanzara Sailo, Hon'ble Minister of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of Mizoram, Shri

Arjun Kumar Ghatani and Hon'ble Minister of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of Sikkim.

During his address, Sh. Ajit M Sharan, Secretary (AYUSH) highlighted the importance

of research for the scientific advancement of Homoeopathy.

Hon'ble Minister of AYUSH (IC) being felicitated by Director General, Central Council for Research

Dr Renzo Galassi, President LMHI, expressed the significance of celebrating world

homoeopathy day in India and appreciated the status of Homoeopathy and integrated

model of healthcare delivery in India.

Apart from a Souvenir, the convention saw the releases of a Homoeopathy Dossier in

Spanish, ‘Homeopatia : Ciencia De La Curacion Suave’, a Handbook of recent trends in

Homoeopathy for Infectious Diseases in India and Abroad, a book on Homoeopathy for

Common Diseases and two CCRH modules-enabled homoeopathy software, RADAR

and HOMPATH.

Sh. A.K. Ganeriwala Joint Secretary AYUSH speaking at the convention

Dr. Renzo Galassi President LMHI being presented a memento by Dr. Anil Khurana Director General CCRH

An exclusive session on global scenario and international cooperation reflected upon

India’s strength as the world leader in homoeopathy and discussed about the ways to

promote Homoeopathy through international cooperation and MoUs. Ministers or key

representatives of government from Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan spoke

on the status of Homoeopathy in their respective countries. Central Council for

Research in Homoeopathy entered into Memoranda of Understanding with Yerevan

State Medical University, Armenia and College of Homeopaths of Ontario, Canada for

cooperation in the field of research and education in Homoeopathy. Dr. Thomas

Peinbauer, President, European Committee of Homoeopathy, talked about the situation

of Homoeopathy in Europe. Another very relevant session focusing on the theme of the

convention, ‘Integrating Homoeopathy in Healthcare’, was graced by Dr. Manoj Rajoria,

Hon’ble Member of Parliament, Member, Standing Committee on Health & Family

Welfare (India) and honourable health ministers from various states of India, Goa,

Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Sikkim and Odhisha, reflected upon the status

of Homoeopathy in their respective states. Dr. Peter Fisher from U.K., Chief Editor of a

reputed journal, Homeopathy, talked about the WHO document – Traditional Medicine

Strategy 2014–2023 and said that the goals of the strategy are to support Member

States in harnessing the potential contribution of TM to health, wellness and people

centred health care and promoting the safe and effective use of TM.

Release of publications

Dr. Menachem Oberbaum said that not only a redefinition of the goals of medicine is in

order, but an attempt to analyze our different traditions to regain those forgotten,

personalised dimensions of health and illness is the beginning of a new perspective

towards medicine.

While talking of homoeopathic education and training, Dr. Rajan Shankaran, senior

homoeopath from Mumbai, recommended creation of centres of excellence all over

India and in other parts of the world, with the purpose to inspire, inform and instruct.

In a session on Homoeopathy for mental health, Dr. Renzo Galassi from Italy,

President, LMHI, co-chaired the session along with four doctors Dr. Gopinadhan Dr.

V.C. Acharya Dr. Kalyan Banerjee and Dr. Aditiya Narain Kaushik from India and Dr.

Mujeeb ud din Ansari from Pakistan. The lectures ranged from topics coexistence of

skin and psychiatric disorders, efficacy of Homoeopathy in alcohol dependent patients,

anxiety and its impact on quality of life among urban elderly population etc. Dr. Kumar

Dhawale, director of a homoeopathy research institute in Mumbai, stressed upon the

benefits of integrating homeopathy in the national mental health programme of the

country. Dr. Ronko Itamura from Japan talked of effective role of Homoeopathy in

patients of chronic depression.

Homoeopathy in Public Health was another topic for one of the sessions. Dr. Jagadish

Prasad, Dr. N. Radha, Advisor (Ministry of AYUSH), Dr. B.D. Athani and Dr. Kim Sung

Chol from WHO co-chaired the session, while Dr. Muhammad. Tayyab from Pakistan

was the discussant. Speakers talked of the role of Homoeopathy in Public Health in

creating equity and affordable health care. Dr. Issac Mathai told that the AYUSH model

in a Primary Health Centre is treating over 40,000 people in 38 villages providing

Ayurveda, Naturopathy, Yoga & Homeopathy. He also revealed that a Homeopathy

medical kit with 12 remedies distributed to about 1000 households with orientation

proved successful in treating simple conditions at home and this made the adults not

miss their work and the children not miss their school. Dr. Praveen Oberai of CCRH

informed about the initiatives of Homoeopathy in Public Health through health

programmes like Reproductive And Child Health: Homoeopathy for Healthy Child,

PradhanMantri SwasthyaSuraksha Yojana (PMSSY), National Programme of

Prevention & Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases & Stroke

(NPCDCS) and Homoeopathy for Nutritional Anaemia: A Sustainable ASHA based

Public Health Care Model. An interesting paper by Dr. Jawahar Shah highlighted the

role of Information Technology in integrating homoeopathy for public health.

Exchange of MoU between CCRH and College of Homeopaths of Ontario, Canada

A session on Homoeopathy in cancer was co-chaired by Dr. Zamarenov Nikolay from

Russia Prof. (Dr.) Amorn Premgamone from Thailand and Prof. Ajoy Kumar Ray, Dr.

Sudhir Gupta, Dr. R.K. Grover and Dr. Jayesh Sanghvi from India. The well known

Banerji protocols in the treatment of Cancer were presented by Dr. P. Banerji of

Kolkata, India. Other speakers also showed the role of Homoeopathy in cancer through

their papers.

The rising interest in physico-chemical research in Homoeopathy was discussed in an

exclusive session co-chaired by reputes scientists Dr. Y.K. Gupta, Dr. Vibha Sharma,

Dr. Jayesh Ramesh Bellare, Dr. M.B. Shankar, Prof. Monika Datta and Dr. Chandani

Herath. Kep papers related to nanotechnology, biophotons, quantum physics and

dielectric properties of homoeopathic dilutions were discussed in the session.

Exchange of MoU between CCRH and Yerevan State Medical University, Armenia

The speakers of sessions on clinical research covered diseases like genetic disorders

like haemophilia, chronic renal diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, ovarian cysts, kidney

stones, stress induced psoriasis, cardiovascular problems, skin problems and coeliac

disease. Dr Bipin Jethani presented an interesting case of post-traumatic atlanto-axial

subluxation cured by homoeopathy.

30 posters on various topics related to Homoeopathy were also projected at the venue

by the researchers and practitioners.

The second day of the convention began with a session dedicated to the founder Dr

Hahnemann. A floral tribute was paid to the legendary figure by the chairs and

discussant panelDr. Renzo Galassi, President LMHI(Italy), Dr. Gustavo Alberto Cataldi,

LMHI(Argentina), Dr. Amarilys Cesar(Brazil), Dr Altunay Soylemez Agaoglu(Turkey), Dr.

S.P.S. Bakshi, National Vice president, LMHI(India), Dr. Nandini Sharma, Chairperson,

WHD( India), Dr. Sandeep Kalia, Secretary WHD(India), Dr Ramjee Singh , President

CCH, Dr Arun Bhasme,Vice President, CCH (India), Dr Bhaskar Bhatt, President

HMAI(india), Dr K K Juneja, Chairman, Delhi Board(India), Dr.M A Rao, President, IIHP,

Dr. Mg Oomen, Founder National President, IHMA, Dr Raj K Manchanda, Director

General, CCRH.

The floral tribute was followed by was followed by tribute speeches portraying the most

important events in life of Dr Hahnemann(1755-1843) and his vision.Dr Leopold Drexler

from Austria were the speakers in the session.

A session each on challenges in education in Homoeopathy in India and global scenario of education in Homoeopathy were chaired by Dr. Ramjee Singh , Dr Arun Bhasme, Dr. Srivatsan, and Dr Lalit Verma while Dr. A K Seth , Dr Rajat Chattopadhyaya, Dr. SK Tiwari, Dr. Manilal S., Dr. Arvind Kothe, Dr. Munir Ahmed, Dr. Leopold Drexler(Austria), Dr. Gustavo Alberto Cataldi(argentina), Dr. Mohammed Ashrafur Rahman(Bangladesh), Dr. Danny Pillai (South Africa), Dr. M P Arya(India) and Dr M.K Sahani (India) were in the discussant panel.

The panelists discussed about the concerns and challenges in global and Indian scenario of education in homeopathy and how there could be standardization of education for accredited curriculum for education in Homeopathy.

A session on latest trends in homeopathic research was chaired by Dr. R.K Marwah and Dr. Menachem Oberbaum from Israel.The discussants of the sessions Dr.Shailendra K. Saxena and Dr. Raj K Manchanda highlighted the new perspectives being adopted in homeopathic research ranging for nanoscience , biomolecular science ,quantum physics to pragmatic clinical research designs like prognostic research, and genetic approach to the effect of homoeopathic medicine. The lectures of the session covered these topics at length.

Another session on drug validation and drug development explored the therapeutic potential of nosodes and discussed the idea of reinventing nosodes, by way of their preparation and application in clinical field. The session was chaired by Dr. Martien

brands and Netherland, Dr. Isaac Golden from Australia and Dr. Anil Khurana were the discussants.

The speakers of the session on harmonization of pharmacopoeias and drug laws brought up many vital issues like regulation of homeopathic medicines worldwide, need for a common international pharmacopoeia, pharmacopoeial standards of homoeopathic drugs vis-à-vis drug regulations and need for upgrading specifications of plant raw materials in homeopathic pharmacy. Dr Robbert van Haselen, Chief editor, complementary Therapies in medicine, presented his lecture on regulation in homoeopathic medicine through Skype. This session was chaired by senior homoeopathic doctors Dr. S.S. Handa, Dr. P. N. Verma, Dr. S.P Singh and dr. C. Nayak. Dr Amarilys Cesar from Brazil and Dr. Rajeev Sharma and Dr. Dilip Panakkada from India belonged to the discussant panel.

Biomolecular research in homoeopathy was another session at the convention, which was chaired by Dr. Anisur Rahman khuda-Bukhsh,Prof. (Dr.) Carla Holandino Quaresma (Brazil) and Prof (Dr.) Kanjaksha Ghosh Dr. Surender Singh and Dr. Anil Khurana were the discussants. After elaborate presentation on basic research updates by Dr. Peter Fisher, Editor, International journal – Homeopathy, presentation on topics ranging from homeo-genomic approach towards personalized therapy of cancer, hypertension and oxidative stress parameters of kidney by modulating enzymes hypertensive rat model, anti heat shock effect of Cantharis 200 transported from one plant to another through capillary water, to protective role of Rhus toxicodendron 6c on cells of primary cell culture in relation to dengue virus infection and molecular level correlation between probable homeopathic medicines and bio-samples of patients.

Besides these, there were several presentations on clinical research including latest research updates, and role of Homeopathy in malaria, dengue, natural disasters, brain injuries, chronic ear infection, sciatica etc.