Homeopathy was the brain child of an allopathic doctor Dr Samuel Hahnemann who was looking for better options for treatment of his patients. He wasn't satisfied with the method of treatments prevalent in those times like bloodletting and venesection which he observed were very painful and with adverse effects. He therefore started experimenting and gradually developed a new science he called homeopathy. Homeopathy is a medical science based on firm principles. The homeopathic medicines' are all well proved and tried and tested on health human beings. But right from the inception of this science, homeopathy has faced strong opposition from the conventional medical community. The industry faced this hostile attitude because it came with a different philosophy. Being with lesser side effect and a milder form of treatment, this was becoming popular curtailing the influence of conventional medicine. Despite of strong aversion, homeopathy strived throughout the centuries only because of its traits that were expedient for the general populace. During large epidemics, this method of treatment always performed better than conventional ones.
There are always two sides to a coin. All forms of medicine have their pros and cons. The gradual expansion of the homeopathy Industry is a contribution of a number of prevalent traits in medical industry. One of the most pertinent reasons that are affecting the global market of Homeopathic medicine is its safety and mild medicines which is a potent alternative to expensive medical practices in developing countries. Allopathic drugs are also put through stringent tests before they are available for use and various parameters analyzed. All drugs are subject to a risk analysis where the benefits should outnumber the elements of risk. Allopathic drugs are sort after because of the speed of action of the drugs whereas although there is no fully known mechanism of action of homeopathic drugs literature does prove that this form of medicine is gentle and takes a longer but definitive cure in most cases.
Lately, there have been a number of groundbreaking researches in the field of Homeopathy. Some of the best scientific minds including Luc Montagnier, the Nobel laureate, have come up with substantial studies and research in this field. His statement about this science is a signature of its growing prospective, Luc Montagnier quoted, "I can't say that homeopathy is right in everything. What I can say now is that the high dilutions are right. High dilutions of something are not anything. They are water structures which mimic the original molecules." He is also the founder and president of the World Foundation of AIDS Research and Prevention. In 2009, he demonstrated that at high aqueous dilutions, some bacterial DNA sequences are able to induce electromagnetic waves. This is a path breaking theory, which opened vast scopes for homeopathic research and development.
Another recent contribution in this field was from a group of scientist from IIT, Mumbai. They presented conclusive ideas that homeopathic pills works on the principle of Nanotechnology. According to Dr Jayesh Bellare, "Homeopathy has been a conundrum for modern medicine. Its practitioners maintained that homeopathic pills got more potent on dilution, but they could never explain the mechanism scientifically enough for the modern scientists." These path breaking works are strong support to homeopathy creating new foundations for the branch.
The raise of homeopathic industry was seen in 20th century across the US. According to a report by FDA, sales of homeopathic medicine was exponentially increasing and reached as high as 1,000% in between the 70s and 80s. Now, the global market is dispersed over developed countries such as US, France and UK apart from its country of origin, Germany. The industry is also gradually adopted in developing countries such as Argentina, Mexico and Ukraine.
Homeopathic industry has drawn good attention lately. According to a report by The New York Times, in UK, the growth rate of homeopathic practitioners is at 39% per year. A recent survey by British Medical Journal, 42% per cent of the physicians refer patients to their homeopathic counterparts. It is an undeniable fact that the influence of homeopathic treatment is increasing and growth is certain in this industry. India is on the mainstream. There are over 100,000 practicing homeopathic physicians in the nation. There are more than 175 educational institutes are dedicated to homeopathic education across the nation. The course duration is four to five years as in other branches of medicine
Today India is a hub of homeopathy and India has the largest number of homeopathic practitioners in the world and has the largest number of colleges in homeopathic education. The course curriculum in homeopathy is one of the most well defined course in our country. Also the homeopathic manicuring is taking a u turn and coming at being standardized as per international norms. Homeopathic manufacturing is a growing industry and has a lot of challenges as the initial medicine substance cannot be detected in the final medicine yet the actions or results are visible. Therefore it is of utmost importance to take care of all steps of manufacturing from raw material stage to finished product testing and keep all records, but the market is growing and with awareness of people rising the quality medicines are here to stay. Today the demand is more than supply as lot of people want to go for safer options of treatment and look for no side effect medicine form, homeopathy has a great scope in that area and if tapped properly can be the first choice of option for people, the challenges what industry faces is the availability of homeopathy medicines as today homeopathy medicine can be sold only a homeopathic pharmacy and not at allopathic chemists that's is one big restriction as the number of shops of homeopathic medicines is far less as compared to allopathy. Once this restriction is removed homeopathy can really grow by leaps and bounds as availability will give more boost to the industry. B Jain pharmaceuticals is working sincerely towards bringing standardization to homeopathic manufacturing as only then the safety of end consumer can be ascertained. This standardization and strict following of norms has made B. Jain Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd to be capable to export to more than 18 countries within a span of 4 years of its launch. Homeopathy is on a rising trend not only in India, but globally. According to a report by ASSOCHAM, the Indian homeopathy market will grow at the rate of 30% annually reaching the size of Rs 4,600 crore. The global market of this industry stands at Rs 26,300 crore. This industry is growing rapidly all over the globe, growth rate being 25% annually. France is the largest contributor to this market. The industry is growing to be business viable. Surveys indicate that more people are being attracted to this treatment since their reliability is increasing over time. This upright trend will have huge impact on medical world while this branch seems to create better avenues o cure diseases, which are considered as almost incurable by allopathic treatment.
(Author Nishant Jain is Director and Marketing of B Jain Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd)
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