Challenges Facing The Ayurvedic Medicine Manufacturers

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Benefits of Ayurvedic Medicines
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Challenges Facing The Ayurvedic Medicine
Manufacturers

• The Indian Ayurvedic medicine is one of the most
  popular streams among alternative medicines in
  the global market. Along with Chinese medicines,
  it has the potential of dominating the worldwide
  demand for herbal medicine. Yet, we are far from
  this goal. While experts predict a highly robust
  demand for herbal medicines emerging in the next
  few years, the Indian industry still has a long
  way to go.
• When it comes to herbal products, many luxury
  companies have a firm foundation. However,
  Chinese firms have also created a significant
  presence. Fortunately, the Indian industry too is
  gaining space. In fact, in the last few years
  Ayurvedic medicine manufacturers have made a
  focused approach towards creating more demand,
  improving channels of delivery and the standards
  in manufacturing.

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Challenges Facing Ayurvedic medicine manufacturers
The Ayurvedic medicine manufacturers have faced
considerable odds to get this far. While Ayurveda
has never quite disappeared, it was taken over by
the more aggressively marketed branded and
generic drugs. So much so that it became
'alternative' medicine in the land of its
approach, while other drugs are seen as
conventional medicines. However, followers of
Ayurveda are still many in India. In rural sector
particularly, Ayurveda has always been the
preferred form of treatment with almost 80
people preferring it over other means. But the
increasing presence of hospitals have,
ironically, lowered this number. This is because
doctors in such hospitals rarely practice
Ayurveda. It is important to note here that
Ayurveda should not be seen as a competitor of
conventional medicine. Rather, it is another
component of ensuring a healthy population. Some
of the challenges that Ayurveda faces in India
and globally are
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Unreliable standards in manufacturing In the
global industry the adherence to standards in
ingredients and processes is extremely important.
However, the problem with Ayurveda is two
pronged. First, for some Ayurvedic medicine
manufacturers, it is difficult to quantify the
process of making Ayurvedic medicine. Secondly,
given pollution and pesticide use in India, it is
difficult to assure the standards in ingredients.
Moreover, since this is not a lab-made project,
one batch of formulation was often found
different from another batch.
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Absence of Ayurveda in formal education At one
time India followed a complete Ayurvedic
tradition. But, modern medical science developed
completely parallel to this and had no connection
or interaction with Ayurveda. As a result,
Ayurveda or its principles do not form part of
the formal medical education. So, you will be
hard pressed to find an Ayurvedic doctor in a
hospital. Since this is the primary means of
spreading medical treatment across a population,
the lack of representation meant that Ayurveda
lost out. Aggressive marketing by conventional
drug companies Coupled with the rise of modern
medical science was the rise of pharmaceutical
companies. Slowly, the tablets and capsules
because the only kind of drugs sold at chemists.
Today, as huge multi-million dollar conglomerates
their marketing prowess is unparalleled and
almost impossible for Ayurvedic medicine
manufacturers to counter effectively.
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Lack of understanding In the West, there is
little understanding or even knowledge of
Ayurveda. This ancient system of well being is
seen as a strictly alternative medicine. The
lack of standardization also means that it has
acquired the ignominious tag of
pseudo-medicine. This means it is severely
crippled when fighting against the spread of
modern medicine and is rarely understood by
modern medical practitioners.   Presence of
heavy metals Ayurveda advocates the use of
herbs, plant extracts and minerals in making its
formulations. However, many of these also contain
some amount of heavy metals. Due to lack of
awareness about the effect of such metals, many
early manufacturers used these in their
formulations. This invited swift penalty from
countries like the US. While many Ayurvedic
practitioners counter that such presence was due
to incorrect manufacturing processes or faulty
ingredient, the harm to Ayurvedic medicines
reputation was struck.
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Few practitioners Ayurveda is an ancient form of
treatment and well-being. It is a vast text that
covered simple everyday skincare regime to
complicated surgical procedures like plastic
surgery and cataract. Coupled with the its
absence in formal education, there are very few
practitioners left today with a complete
knowledge of Ayurveda. This has also meant fewer
competent practitioners who could explain any
lacunae. Conclusion Ayurveda is one of India's
traditional medicines and considered as one of
our great inheritances. But to survive and become
a dominant player in the global medicine market,
Ayurvedic medicine manufacturers have to overcome
some formidable challenges.
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