Objectives: Institute for Research in Medical Statistics, Indian Council of Medical Research, Delhi undertook a study to obtain all India estimate of utilization of Indian Systems of Medicine and Homeopathy (ISM&H).
Methods: The study covered 35 districts spreading over 19 States of India. In this article, results for the State of West Bengal are being presented. Selected districts in West Bengal were Midnapore and Darjeeling where about 2400 sick persons from 2000 households were studied.
Results: About 20% sick persons actually availed ISM&H treatment in the State. Majority availed Homeopathy followed by Ayurvedic medicines. Use of Unani and Siddha is negligible in this State. In case of minor ailments, ISM&H was preferred by about 15% in Darjeeling district and 42% in Midnapore district. In case of serious illnesses, about 12% in Darjeeling district preferred ISM&H, but very few (about 5%) preferred this in Midnapore. 39.4% and 20.8% of sick persons sought treatment from traditional healers in Midnapore and Darjeeling district respectively. Jaundice, snakebite, dog bite and 'bone setting' were some of the conditions for which traditional healers were mostly visited. Sizable proportion (30%-89%) of sick persons used various 'kitchen remedies' for conditions like indigestion, loose motion, constipation, fever, body ache, sprain and cough & cold.