History of Homoeopathy in India

Dr Mansoor Ali

India has the largest homeopathic infrastructure in the world – better called as a Homeopathic Hub of the world
2,46772 qualified homeopaths
UG Colleges : 180 (12371 admissions)
PG Colleges : 35 (1040 admissions)
Government clinics: 7560
Licensed pharmacies : 700
Hospitals : 400
A Separate regulation for UG & PG only in India

European Missionaries, 200 years back, brought homoeopathy to India. But the official recognition was achieved in 1839 when Dr. John martin Honing Berger a French man during his visit to India, treated Maharaja Renjith Singh of Lahore who happened to be seriously ill ailing from Paralysis of vocal cord with swelling of feet and native physicians were unable to improve his health in 1839. Dr. Honigberger later on went to Calcutta and started practice there, where he was chiefly known as the ‘Cholera Doctor’.. There after Homoeopathy showed a steady growth in India and gained the goodwill from India’s Great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Ravindra Nath Tagore, Swami Vivekandha, Mother Teresa, Dr. K. R. Narayanan etc.

This therapeutic system came to be practiced in India during the life time of Dr. Hahnemann, the father of Homoeopathy, when a German Physician and Geologist came to India round about 1810 for geological investigations and remained for some time in Bengal where he distributed homoeopathic medicine to the people. Homeopathy came to India during Dr.Hahnemann’s time (1846 establishment of homeopathic hospital at Tanjore & Puddu Kottaii in South India, 1851 – Native Homeopathic hospital and free dispensary at Kolkatta : Sir John Hunter & Dt.Tonnere) but it was only after the Independence of India that a homeopathic enquiry committee was constituted by Govt. of India (1948 report submitted 1949 to the Hon. Health Minister Rajkumari Amrit Kaur)

Dr. Mahendra Lal Sircar, was the first qualified physician in India who was inspired by the favour of lay-homoeopath Babu Rajen Datta, who himself practiced homoeopathy and treated successfully many patients, some of whom were distinguished men of the time such as Pandit Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar, Raja Radha Kanta Deb Bahadur. Later Dr. Mahendra Lal Sircar was instrumental in spreading the prestige and fame of homoeopathy far and wide in India. Ultimately more and more people started taking homoeopathic treatment for various diseases.

Because of its popularity, there had been demand for a long time for recognition of Homoeopathy as a system of Medicine by the Government of India. In April, 1937 Md. Ghias-ud-idin, M.L.A., moved a resolution in the Legislative Assembly for the recognition of Homoeopathy. The resolution was passed and forwarded to the State Governments for its implementation and Bengal was the first province to constitute a Homeopathic State Faculty in 1943.

Government of India appointed a Homoeopathic Enquiry Committee in 1948, and Committee submitted a report in 1949. This Committee recommended that Central Council of Homoeopathic Medicine should be established. Besides, the provincial Homoeopathic Council should also be established. The Homoeopathic Advisory Committee recommended the appointment of an Honorary Homoeopathic Adviser in 1960 and Dr. K.G. Saxena was appointed first Honorary Homoeopathic Adviser to the Government of India in 1962. This Committee also recommended the constitution of a Central Council of Homoeopathy. A special panel of Planning Commission of Indian Systems of Medicine and Homoeopathy endorsed this recommendation in 1952, 1956 and 1966. The Central Council of Health comprising of the State Health Ministers recommended in 1965 that the Central Council of Indian Systems of Medicine may be set up as early as possible to lay down and regulate the standards of education, examination and practice in Ayurveda, Unani and Homoeopathy.

Homoeopathic Education
Syllabus, curriculum, duration of course, prescribed text books, methodology of teaching etc are same for allopathic and homeopathic students. Instead of allopathic pharmacology homeopathic students has to study materia medica, organon of medicine, pharmacy and repertory.

Courses
BHMS Course- Five and half years duration includes one year compulsory internship
MD Homeopathy – 3 years postgraduate Course in Repertory, Materia Medica, Organon of Medicine, Homeopathic Pharmacy, Practice of Medicine, Psychaitry, Paediatrics etc

A student spending
1st BHMS :  1610 hours
2nd BHMS:  1065 hours
3rd BHMS :   950  hours
4th BHMS :  1175 hours
Total   :  4800 hours inside the class room

Recognised Foreign Medical qualification in India
Doctors with the following qualifications can practice in India

1.       Faculty of Homoeopathy, London    Diploma of the faculty of Homoeopathy     D.F.Hom.
2.       Faculty of Homoeopathy, London    Members of the faculty of Homoeopathy   M.F.Hom.
3.       Faculty of Homoeopathy, London    Fellow of the Faculty of Homoeopathy       F.F. Hom.

Opportunities in India
Any person with recognized qualifications such as BHMS,MD(Hom), DHMS etc by Central Council of Homeopathy can practice anywhere in India. Besides Government bodies like Union Public Service Commission and various state Public Service Commission’s regularly recruiting candidates and offering good salaries.

In the private sector also lot of Homeopathic Colleges and Hospitals, chained clinics, multi specialty clinics providing job opportunities.

Government Bodies

Central Council of homeopathy – CCH
http://cchindia.com/index.php
In 1973 the Indian Parliament passed Homeopathic central council bill and accordingly Homeopathic Central Council was established in 1974. This council is the controlling authority of the educational and practice of Homoeopathy in India.

Central Council of Research in Homeopathy- CCRH
www.ccrhindia.org
There is also Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy for conducting and monitoring the research activities in Homoeopathy.

To streamline research in Homoeopathy, a need of planned and organized research was strongly felt by the Government of India. As a result, the Central Council for Research in Indian Medicine and Homoeopathy (CCRIMH) was established in 1969 to carry out researches in Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani medicine, Yoga and Homoeopathy. The Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy (CCRH), one of the successor organizations to the erstwhile CCRIMH was established as an autonomous organization, at New Delhi in 1978. Ever since, CCRH remains a unique organization engaged in various research  studies  in Homoeopathy.

Over the years, CCRH had branched into 51 subordinate Institutes and Units functioning in different parts of the country.To improve the functioning of the research centers further and to ensure quality research, the Dept. of AYUSH has decided to consolidate the centers further, by merging the smaller units, in two phases, i.e. to consolidate to 24 centers in Phase – I and to 19 centers in Phase-II. In Phase -I, a number of Units have been merged with other Institutes or Units making it a total of 24 Institutes / Units at present as given below:

Central Research Institute                             – 02
Homoeopathic Drug Research Institute            – 01
Regional Research Institute                            – 07
Clinical Research Unit                                    – 10
Drug Proving Research Unit                            – 01
Drug Standardization Unit                               – 01
Survey of Medicinal Plants and cultivation Unit   – 01
Homoeopathic Treatment Center                      – 01

Aims and Objectives
1. To formulate aims and patterns of research on scientific lines in Homoeopathy.
2. To initiate, develop, undertake and co-ordinate scientific research in fundamental and applied aspects of Homoeopathy.
3. To collaborate research studies with other institutes of excellence towards promotion of Homoeopathy.
4. To exchange information with other institutions, associations and societies interested in the objects similar to those of the Central Council and especially in observation and study of diseases.
5. To propagate research findings through monographs, journals/workshops & develop audiovisual aids for dissemination of information to the profession & public.

AYUSH
www.indianmedicine.nic.in
To provide equal status with other systems, Govt. of India had constituted separate department – Indian Systems of Medicine and Homoeopathy under the Ministry of Health and Family welfare.

The Govt of India had constituted a Homeopathic pharmacopoeia committee and published eight volumes of official ‘Homoeopathic pharmacopoeia of India’. Also a national level drug-testing laboratory is functioning at Ghaziabad, New Delhi.

National Institute of Homeopathy. Kolkatta  : www.nih.nic.in
Health & Family Welfare dept. Tamilnadu  : www.tnhealth.org
Homeopathy in Delhi  :www.delhihomeo.com
Rajiv Gandhi University of Health science. Karnataka :  www.rguhs.ac.in
All Indian Ministries :  http://www.nic.in/
Research findings of Central Council of Homeopathy : http://ccrhindia.org/researchfindings.asp