Thiruvananthapuram: The corporate employees of Kochi stand third among other cities in the country switching over to ayurvedic treatments to combat high stress levels. A study conducted by the The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) revealed that 72 per cent of the corporate employees are turning to treatments like naturopathy, massage, acupuncture and acupressure. The survey titled, ‘Demand of homeopathic and ayurvedic medicines in metros’ was conducted under the aegis of Assocham Social Development Foundation (ASDF). Delhi ranks first followed by Mumbai (2nd), Kochi (3rd), Bangalore (4th), Mumbai (5th), Ahmedabad (6th), Chandigarh (7th), Hyderabad (8th), Pune (9th) and Dehradun (10th).
Around 55 per cent of the respondents of the survey fell in the age bracket of 20-29 years, followed by 30-39 years (26 per cent), 40-49 years (16 per cent), 50-59 years (2 per cent) and 60-69 years (approximately 1 per cent). The survey targeted corporate employees from 18 broad sectors, with employees from IT/ITeS sector forming the maximum(17 per cent).
Employees working in engineering and telecom sectors formed 9 per cent and 8 per cent respectively in responding to the questionnaire. Nearly 6 per cent of employees from market research and media background each responded to the questionnaire. The demand for homeopathic and ayurvedic medicines has increased in the last few years. People are choosing the traditional way of treatment avoiding allopathic system to cure chronic ailments such as respiratory diseases, fevers, skin diseases, viral infections, asthma and allergic disorders, reveals the survey. This is largely because ayurvedic medicines has no side-effects and is more effective.
Over 65 per cent of the respondents said that ayurvedic medicines can treat them effectively. Because of the presence of spurious medicines and side-effects in allopathic treatment, Ayurveda is a safer option. In case of medical emergencies, 79 per cent people preferred allopathy, 20 per cent preferred ayurveda and only 1 per cent preferred homeopathy. In case of common ailments, 15 per cent of respondents preferred allopathic medicines, 48 per cent preferred ayurvedic medicines and 17 per cent preferred homeopathic medicines. About 10-12 per cent of the respondents knew how to administer household remedies.
“The government policies should not only promote the use of preferred medicines but should also have strict control on standards and quality of these medicines These can be made duty-free to make them affordable by masses,’’ said Assocham secretary general D S Rawat. Ayurveda and homeopathy are effective methods to treat chronic ailments including hair and skin problems, respiratory problems, arthritis and other miscellaneous treatments like thyroid, bed-wetting, diabetes, and obesity, the survey says.
The dependency on ayurvedic medicines has increased due to rise in lifestyle diseases such as migraine, stress, obesity, and asthma. However, in cases requiring surgeries or emergency operations, there is no alternative but to depend on allopathy, adds the chamber.
Currently, more than 40,000 branded and 2,500 traditional ayurvedic products are available in the market. It will continue to expand in the other regions where it is currently present Kerala, Karnataka, and Maharashtra.
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