Biometric online registration to eliminate quacks

courtesy:gbcghana.com

The Department of Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH) (BANGALORE) on Friday launched a first-of-its-kind website and biometric online registration to eliminate quacks. The website aims to prevent quacks, misusing the registration numbers of doctors. AYUSH doctors in the state will register themselves on this website and can be identified using the biometric system. 

Launching the website at an event held on the AYUSH department premises, G S Srikanthaiah, director, Department of AYUSH, said that the department needs more encouragement and manpower to sustain as a rich system of medicine, and this can be achieved by making it available to people through primary health centres (PHCs). “About 1,100 posts of doctors and paramedical staff are vacant. 

There is an urgent need to fill these posts,” he said. Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar said that AYUSH is one of the most important legacies from ancient times, which had to be preserved. “There is a need to make AYUSH a more attractive system of medicine. We will take required steps to fill the vacancies and make it reachable to more people in the state,” Shettar said. However, the new initiative will not include homeopathy practitioners. 

Karnataka has almost 33,000 registered AYUSH doctors and is the first state to come up with such a plan to curb quacks. The department also plans to expand the reach of the medicine to all the taluks and hoblis in the state. In 2013-14, the department plans to set up AYUSH clinics in all the taluks. 

The four revenue divisions in the state will also have mobile AYUSH clinics. Community Health Centres will also have nature cure and yoga centres run by the department. The department released seven books to educate school children, village folk, anganwadi workers and ASHA workers about simple home remedies for infections and other ailments. 

source:http://newindianexpress.com/cities/bangalore/article1494497.ece