Mumbai: By 2026, India will get its first hospital-cum-research centre which will find ways to cure cancer with the help of Ayurveda and trials will also be conducted on some patients. The initiative has been undertaken by the Tata Memorial Centre and the 100-bed facility will come up on 21 acres of land at Khopoli in Raigad district.
Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi, head of the cancer department (head and neck) of the Tata Hospital, said that currently, the cancer patients are only treated with allopathy which has many side effects. Also, the process is very expensive, forcing many to even sell their houses, he pointed out.
Current line of treatment has lifelong side effects: Dr Chaturvedi
“We all are working to develop or come up with a (cancer) treatment which should be more effective and several researches for the same are being done across the country. The current line of treatment has lifelong side effects and there is also a possibility of relapse,” said Dr Chaturvedi. Therefore, emphasis is being laid on manufacturing such a medicine, which can increase the immunity of the patient even after the treatment is over. Tata Hospital is searching for herbs which have proven beneficial for humans for centuries, he added.
Asserting that pharma companies will not work on Ayurveda, Dr Chaturvedi further said that cancer is an incurable illness and formulating the correct treatment is really difficult in some of the cases. “Allopathy treats cancer with the processes of radiation, chemotherapy, and surgery. Unfortunately, all these treatments include a long list of side effects. On the contrary, Ayurvedic science attempts to strengthen your immune system where chemotherapy and radiation both reduce immunity,” he explained.
Dr Chaturvedi highlighted the fact that many times, patients are misled through advertisements or social media videos, claiming of curing cancer with the help of some medicinal plants and herbs. “Our main motive will be doing research on Ayurveda medicines and finding out whether they are really helpful in the treatment of cancer or not. For which, trials will also be conducted,” he said.
A VISIONARY TREATMENT
Emphasis will be on manufacturing medicines which increase immunity
Research centre will grow herbs which have proven beneficial for humans for centuries
Ayurveda treatment trials will also be conducted on select patients
Current line of treatment comes with lifelong side effects
There is also a possibility of relapse
