ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE

Compiled by Yamini Sequeira

APING THE WEST WON’T PAY!

Asoka Hettigoda elaborates on why Sri Lanka should stop relying on imports

The World Food Programme (WFP) says that more than 80 percent of Sri Lankan families are eating cheap or limited quantities of food and this has raised the risk of malnutrition.

Meanwhile, UNICEF has appealed for US$ 25 million to provide humanitarian aid to 1.7 million children in Sri Lanka, many of whom are at risk of dying from malnutrition-related causes. The UN estimates that nearly 5.7 million people in Sri Lanka, half of them children, need humanitarian aid.

The United Nations children’s fund adds that nearly one in two kids in Sri Lanka require some form of emergency assistance including nutrition, healthcare, clean drinking water, education and mental health services.

Ayurveda Ratna Asoka Hettigoda believes this is the ideal time to press the reset button on how we approach health and wellness. We need to apply the brakes on the consumption of imported food and stop aping Western culture in a bid to reduce the nation’s reliance on imports, he asserts.

Hettigoda explains: “This is a great chance to revert to traditional varieties of rice, alternative grains and tubers that are grown with fewer pesticides. The government must aggressively promote and reestablish the dominance of local produce. Even if we are able to build adequate foreign reserves, it won’t be sufficient because our import bill is growing year after year.”

BACK TO BASICS The need of the hour is to grow traditional crops, and enhance their quality and yield for commercial consumption using modern technology. We must look at our organic food types through the eyes of foreigners who yearn for therapeutic and immunity boosting food, he urges.

“We have suppressed knowledge about natural food and Ayurveda because vested interests in Western medicine have sowed doubts about the efficacy of traditional medicines, which have treated generations of Sri Lankans over the years,” he charges.

Hettigoda adds that “in the West, they use coconut oil; and while its benefits have been known to us for thousands of years, other oils are being promoted and imported today.”

The first step towards self-sufficiency is to recalibrate the national healthcare budget. Hettigoda notes: “Government regulations don’t support the local Ayurveda medicine manufacturing sector. Only five percent from the healthcare budget is allocated for Ayurveda while 95 percent is earmarked for Western medicines.”

He maintains that “unless you change that ratio, we will continue to be dependent on dollars to import medicines.”

“If at least 20 percent can be allocated to develop the indigenous medicines sector through technology backed investments, Sri Lanka could even become a key Ayurveda exporting hub. India earns US$ 500-600 million from the export of Ayurveda medicines and expects to reach 400-500 billion dollars by 2025. Sri Lanka could do the same,” Hettigoda urges.

HEALTH CRISIS Commenting on the state of the healthcare sector, he says: “The situation has become dire. The cost of medicines has increased by almost 300 percent and is not within the reach of ordinary people.”

“This could lead to patients not being able to afford full and accurate dosages. And worse still, a majority of medicines aren’t available because of the lack of foreign currency. The country is facing an unprecedented situation,” he warns.

And Hettigoda believes that while devising solutions for the country to earn more dollars is the first priority, it is also the need of the hour to save dollars.

He opines: “The solutions of increasing exports and boosting tourism are well documented but these will not be achieved overnight. While they’re the most obvious choices, we must think outside the box and look at our resources with a fresh perspective. The healthcare sector too can provide a significant opportunity for exporting Ayurveda and naturopathy, which is the rage in Western markets.”

Hettigoda argues that before the British arrived in the island with their Western medicines, Sri Lankans were only treated with Ayurveda (Hela Wedakama).

“It’s time that the government reverted to lessons from history and promoted the local manufacture of Ayurvedic medicines, as well as traditional fruits and vegetables that strengthen the immune system,” he recommends.

What’s more, Hettigoda reveals that “there’s a local business that is making jackfruit patties as vegetable burgers and exporting them. But the same patty is not available locally. Why?”

While he notes that it’s important to absorb global trends, Hettigoda laments the fact that traditional produce such as moringa and coconut, which are in high demand overseas, remain underutilised in Sri Lanka.

He cites the case of India, which has instituted International Day of Yoga and built an industry around this ancient practice – and he believes that Sri Lanka too can resurrect its traditions by giving Ayurveda medicines and cuisine a new twist to build self-sufficiency.

LOOKING WITHIN Commenting on a way out of the economic crisis, he muses: “I think Sri Lanka has a major problem in all sectors because remuneration is not based on performance.”

“I was shocked to hear that certain state institutions have been granting bonuses even when they didn’t have money to pay for the next batch of imports. Where in the world are employees given bonuses when the institution is losing money?” he asks.

Hettigoda continues: “It’s imperative in the short term to increase the level of nutrition among youth, children and the elderly, by promoting locally grown fruits, vegetables and yams. A healthy populace will also translate into higher productivity and less absenteeism.”

Meanwhile, he believes Sri Lanka has the capacity to come out of any crisis: “Look at the pandemic – when you compare us with other countries in the region, we did quite a good job. However, we could have done better and been among the first countries to import vaccines.”

And he asserts: “Sri Lanka is also one of the few countries in the world with a tradition of treating respiratory ailments through Ayurveda. However, the government did not highlight traditional methods even though the population was using Ayurveda medication to recover from COVID-19 infections.”

In conclusion, Hettigoda feels that we mustn’t slavishly follow Western trends; and more importantly, not neglect or replace traditions that have been handed down to us over generations.

The interviewee is the Chairman of Siddhalepa