IMPHAL, May 29 - The profession of folk and traditional healing practices are becoming a dying profession in the northeastern states due to lack of proper support systems from various fronts.
This information was shared by the some practitioners and experts who are presently studying the tribal and non-tribal healing practices in the region during the day long workshop on �Folk and indigenous healing practices in Manipur� in Manipur University on Tuesday.
The workshop was organized by the Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy (CSSEIP), Manipur University in collaboration with the New Delhi-based Anthropos India Foundation (AIF) and the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA).
�The indigenous form of traditional healing practices becoming one of the most neglected profession and it is dying in the region,� said president N Tombiraj of All Manipur Maiba Maibi Phurup, a body of traditional healers.
However, the primary services provided by these practitioners to the people who could not access the present form of healthcare system in their respective areas, is creditable. The member of the governing body of the Eastern Institute of Folk Medicine, Pasighat said the authority needs to look into the challenges faced by the traditional healers.
Sharing a similar sentiment during his presentation on traditional folk medicines, Prof P Kumar of Life Science department, Manipur University, said nearly 70 per cent of the population in the rural areas are still dependent on traditional medicines.
Sharing her recent finding during a study on the folk and tribal healing practices in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, founder chairperson Dr Sunita Reddy of AIF observed that the contributions of the traditional healers in the primary healthcare system could be channelized if the authorities concerned developed healers huts and herbal gardens at the village panchayat levels.
Stating that the traditional healers are disappearing from the society due to various reasons, Reader Dr Thiyam Bharat of CSSEIP said even the traditional medicines are also vanishing day by day due to neglects by humans.
