People turn to homoeopathy in Andhrapradesh

HYDERABAD: Deterred by the high cost of the swine flu vaccine, dozens from the city are now thronging the camp set up by the Government Homoeopathic Medical College and Hospital at Ramanthapur to avail of a cheaper alternative. While the cost of the vaccine being administered by doctors at corporate hospitals is a high Rs 800 (approx), the homoeopathic medicine available at the camp is priced at a modest Rs 20-30. The fact that several private hospitals are reporting a shortage of vaccine has only made matters worse.

“We have been catering to anywhere between 800 and 1,000 families every day,” said Dr S Kishan, superintendent of the pharmacy attached with the hospital, which operates under the Ayush department of the Telangana state government. The medicine, Arslab 30, is a general medicine that is prescribed by homoeopathy doctors for people with low immunity. “There is no medicine that is specific to swine flu yet, so we are sticking to the general one considering that it has worked in the past,” the superintendent explained.

According to authorities, the same medicine was prescribed to people when the epidemic broke out in 2009. “The medicine we are giving is an immunity booster. That’s because swine flu is mostly rampant among people with low immunity levels,” Dr Kishan added.

Apart from individuals, a bunch of schools and colleges from the city too are seen making a beeline for the camp to distribute the medicine among their students and staffers. Yet, officials aren’t too pleased with the level of awareness among people. “The Arslab 30 medicine is available at all homoeopathy stores,” said Dr Pratap, who works at the camp. He followed it up with details about the dosage. “The medicine should be taken before breakfast and nothing should be consumed for the next half hour. The dosage for elders is six pills and for children it’s four. Also, tea and coffee should be avoided during the three-day course,” he explained.

While the ongoing camp is currently the only such programme operational in the city, authorities are hoping to expand their reach soon. “We’ve written to the government about the medication and as soon as we get the green signal, we will start organising many more such camps in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh,” said Dr Kishan. [Source]