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Top Ayurveda physician in UK welcomes SL’s move to use native medicine to treat Covid-19 patients

Published

2 years ago

2020/11/1

by Sujeeva Nivunhella in London

Well-known Ayurveda physician, Shantha Godagama, who founded the Ayurvedic Medical Association and College of Ayurveda in the UK over 30 years ago, welcomed Sri Lanka’s decision to introduce Ayurveda products to General Hospitals to treat Covid-19 patients.

“As a founder patron of the British Ayurvedic Medical Council and a member of the herbal medicine advisory committee in the UK, I am happy over this move, which could bring recognition to Sri Lanka”, he noted.

“After long and exhaustive collective negotiations by herbal practitioners 15 years ago, the European Union made a landmark ruling that any herbal preparation, which had successfully treated medical conditions for over 15 years in Europe and 30 years outside Europe, provides sufficient evidence of the efficacy of the drugs”, he recalled.

Godagama said the British Government set up the first-ever herbal medicines advisory committee of the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Authority in the UK following the EU ruling.

“As a result, we have now licenced around 500 Ayurveda products, which are available in pharmacies in the UK, either on self- prescribing or practitioner prescribing”, he said.

Practitioner prescribing means these herbal products can be prescribed by western or ayurvedic doctors”, he elaborated.

“It is time for Sri Lankan doctors practicing western medicine to learn about prescribing the drugs from the UK. I believe there won’t be an issue with the medical council when it comes to cooperation and collaboration with herbal practitioners as we work together in harmony”, Godagama asserted.

“With the patient’s permission, we often send a written report on prescribed herbs to western doctors. In the event, a doctor or a herbal practitioner notices any unexpected side effects, we inform the authorities through the government yellow card scheme. I must say after completion of MBBS degrees, there are many students who enroll themselves to study ayurveda”, he continued.

“If the aim is to treat and cure patients, we must also study other systems of healing. There is a well-known saying here that if a doctor has no pen and paper, then he’s useless”, Godagama added.

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Stay on course and don’t go back to the past – Dr Indrajit Coomaraswamy

Published

4 hours ago

2023/03/24

Priyan

Former Governor of the Central Bank delivering the keynote address at a high profile Webinar hosted by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka today (24) said that Sri Lanka must implement the structural reforms proposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) without relaxing like in the past or else we will be in a deeper economic mess.

The webinar was titled ‘What is next for Sri Lanka in the wake of the IMF programme’

News

Sustainable economic development goals cannot be achieved unless attention is paid to mitigating climate change – Sagala Ratnayake

Published

4 hours ago

2023/03/24

Priyan

President’s Senior Adviser on National Security and Chief of Presidential Staff Sagala Ratnayake said sustainable economic development goals cannot be accomplished without taking steps to mitigate climate change.

He said this while participating in the 10,000 sapling planting program organized by the LEO Youth Vision 2048 Club and the LEO Club at the Royal College, Colombo on Thursday (23rd).

This program was organized in view of President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s birthday, which is today (24), and the required plants were distributed to the main schools of the Colombo District.

News

SF claims thousands of police and military personnel leaving

Published

16 hours ago

2023/03/24

Thilina Walpola

By Saman Indrajith

Thousands of police and military personnel had left the services recently as they did not want to carry out illegal orders, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka told Parliament yesterday. According to the war-winning army commander 200 policemen have resigned during the past two months and 25,000 soldiers have left the army during the last two years.

“We urged the law enforcement and military officials not to follow illegal orders. We will reinstate them with back pay,” he said.

Fonseka also urged the President and the government MPs not to take people for fools.

“Sri Lanka owes 55 billion dollars to the world. Ranil’s plan is to borrow another seven billion during the next four years. So, in four years we will owe 62 billion to the world.

Ranil and his ministers ask us what the alternative to borrowing is. These are the people who destroyed the economy and society. They must leave. Then, we will find an alternative and develop the country,” he said, adding that the IMF loans had made crises in other nations worse.

“Ranil says that by 2025, we will have a budget surplus as in Japan, Germany and South Korea. These countries are economic power houses, and this comparison is ludicrous.”