Time Again For Homeopathy Hospitals?

Dear Readers,

This is our second issue on homeopathy hospitals of the past, present and future. Last month Dr. Barvalia enthralled us with his clinical acumen and grand vision of his homeopathic hospital. This month, we have with us – Dr. Navin Pavaskar – who is going to take us further in the same direction with his exceptional knowledge and work experience in managing hospital cases with homeopathy.

Most of us have read about the great work that homeopaths have done in the past in hospital cases as well as in emergency situations. There was a time when homeopaths even performed surgery! The miracles that were performed by Hahnemann in epidemics of Scarlet Fever to the wonderful results that homeopathy is giving in the current epidemic of Chikungunya Fever, are all fine examples of the efficacy of homeopathy. The clinical experience of the homeopaths of the 20th century was so vast that it led to the publication of some very fine works which dealt with gross pathologies and hospital cases. Just to name a few –

* Diseases of the heart (BLACKWOOD A.L.)
* Diseases of the heart & Arteries (CLARKE J.H.)
* Non-surgical Treatment of Diseases of Glands Author: (CLARKE J.H.)
* Treatment of Surgical Diseases (GILCHRIST)
* Remedies of Circulatory & Respiratory System (BERNOVILLE F.)
* Diseases of the Kidneys & Nervous System (BLACKWOOD A.L.)
* The Homoeopathy Therapy of Diseases of Brain & Nerves (ROYAL GEORGE)
* Digestive Drugs (BORLAND M. DOUGLAS)
* Gunpowder as a War Remedy (CLARKE J.H.)
* The Curability of Tumours (BURNETT J.C.)
* Homeopathic Treatment of Cancer (BERNOVILLE F.)
* Tumors of the Breast (BURNETT J.C.)
* Therapeutics of the Diseases of Liver & Biliary Ducts (BERNOVILLE F.)
* The Diseases of Liver (BURNETT J.C.)
* Fistula & its Radical Cure (BURNETT J.C.)
* Some Emergencies of General Practice (BORLAND M. DOUGLAS)
* Obstetric Emergencies (FISHER C.E.)

These are just a handful of works which show the efficacy of homeopathy in all sorts of disorders – repeatedly. Even at present there are people doing excellent clinical work in hospital emergency and life-threatening situations. Some examples are:

* Cancer: Cause, Care & Cure (Castro J.B.D.)
* Homeopathy in Emergencies (Castro J.B.D.)
* Homeopathic Treatment of Cancer (Ramakrishnan A.U.)

There are others like Dr. Barvalia and Dr. Pavaskar who are also working towards the same goal. I know about homeopathic hospitals in Kerala(India) with an IPD of 150 patients and an OPD of 700 patients per day! Isn’t that amazing. There was a time when homeopaths used to give allopathic medicines in disguise (secretly) – some still do. But I have seen the tide changing. Today, I know many allopaths who use and (even prescribe) homeopathic medicines. They even send so many of their own difficult cases to us. Some times allopaths even ask me remedies that they should give to their patients and they even go to the extent of asking ‘How do we give the homeopathic medicine so that the patient doesn’t know that we are using homeopathy?’!!

But in spite of all these great advancements, we have to understand the ground reality too. Homeopathy, though spreading rapidly, is still in rough waters as far as the western world is concerned. Even in India, where there is a huge public and government support for homeopathy, the actual number of people taking homeopathic treatment in comparison to allopathic treatment is still relatively small. Then the education being provided in homeopathic colleges – even in India – is not good enough for the homeopaths to create hospital setups independently. So when Dr. Luc says that he does not share Dr. Barvalia’s enthusiasm, I understand his position. The way ahead for homeopathy is still not easy. But at the same time, I must say, we are going through a very exciting time as far as the development of homeopathy is concerned.

So the big question is – Is it time again for homeopathic hospitals? I believe yes! Though it is a cautious yes. In India, at least, the time has come to create hospitals where we can prove the efficacy of homeopathy in large setups, where statistical monitoring of cases is easy and can be validated. The results coming out of such institutes will force the governments all over the world to sit up and take notice of what we can achieve with homeopathy. This is part of my personal vision of homeopathy too – someday, I would like to create or be a part of such an organization.

We also have to realize that homeopaths won’t be able to work in isolation in hospital setups – not till we develop the same level of management practices that conventional medicine has developed over the years. We will need to master diagnostic procedures, general management, surgery and much more before we are able to work alone – without the aid of conventional medicine. But, if we can find allopathic doctors, who are willing to work in tandem with homeopaths, the path will become much shorter. Medicine has to evolve from the segregation of systems – a truly holistic concept of medicine is one in which the patient is given the treatment that is most suitable for her, treatment that works for her – be it conventional medicine, Homeopathy, Ayuerveda, Reiki, EFT, Psychotherapy, Physiotherapy, Regression Therapy or something else. Each system has something to offer to mankind and the time has now come for an ‘Integrative Medicine’. The only wish I have is that Homeopathy finds a central place in this new evolving scheme and gets its due respect as the most powerful healing modality yet discovered!

I hope with these two issues of Homeopathy for Everyone, we will be able to create more awareness about the need and the approach for creating homeopathic hospitals. Do send me your feedback about this issue at [email protected]. Your comments and suggestions about this journal and various articles published in each issue are very important to us. So don’t forget to write to us. We await your letters eagerly.

Yours sincerely,

Dr. Manish Bhatia

— Chief Editor —
Homeopathy for Everyone