Bringing Back Medicines Derived From Nature

Trivendrum:'Grihankanathil Oru Oushadhodyanam' ('A Medicinal Garden in your Courtyard') and 'Amla' (Indian Gooseberry) Mission, were the two projects that were inaugurated at the VJT hall on Wednesday evening by Mayor K Chandrika. The projects were originally scheduled to be inaugurated by Ministers Adoor Prakash and V S Shivakumar, both of whom could not make it to the function due to unforseen circumstances.In her inaugural speech, Mayor K Chandrika talked in detail about the various kinds of medicinal plants that were once found abundantly in the state, and whose presence has now dwindled down drastically due to the rapid urbanization.
“Urbanization is the reason for the modern generation to have almost completely forgotten about the wealth of medicinal herbs that were once abundant in Kerala. In olden days medicines for most kinds of small diseases and infections were prepared from the plants that were grown in the courtyard of a home. But now, we couldn't care less about the presence of a medicinal plant in our homes. The situation needs to change and I sincerely hope that these two projects go a long way in bringing that change in the society,” she said.
The project is being funded by State Medicinal Plant Board and will involve the distribution of herbal plants to homes and conducting classes and seminars to spread awareness about the need to revive the usage of medicinal plants in the treatment methods followed in the state.Both the projects are being run under the guidance of the pharmacognosy unit functioning under the Government Ayurveda College. The projects aim to make people aware of the value of medicinal herbs that are fast disappearing in the modern urbanized world. P K Shivadasan, principal of Government Ayurveda College, gave the welcome speech at the function which was presided over by T Shivadas (Director, Ayureda Medical Association).“If every home has a few medicinal plants growing in their courtyards, that's enough for the whole family to ward off small time infections, rather than spending money on doctors and English medicines,” he said in his presidential speech.