A cross sectional study to assess the reason for Health Seeking Behavior among the patients attending Ayodhidass Pandithar Hospital, National Institute of Siddha

Traditional and Complementary Medicine plays a vital role in keeping our population healthy. Most countries regard their Traditional Medicine Systems with pride and consider them a precious part of their heritage . As we all know, the Alma Ata declaration of 1978 that sought to provide Health for All also mentions the role of TM and its practitioners in primary health care in different Member States of WHO. Yet, it is a fact that the role of Traditional Systems of Medicine in public health is often overlooked at the policy level in most countries. Consequently, these systems are often not able to perform to their potential in addressing public health challenges, globally. It is estimated that over one-third of the population in developing countries lacks access to essential medicines . But a significant feature, according to the World Health Organization, is that traditional medicine meets the primary healthcare needs of almost 80% of the developing world’s rural population. Traditional medicines and plant-based products have succeeded in keeping the humankind healthy and improving their quality of life for thousands of years. Though modern medicine has brought great relief to our species by controlling communicable diseases, it does not offer satisfactory solutions for a wide variety of health challenges relating to chronic ailments, lifestyle and ageing. Moreover, improving quality of life of patients have become a big challenge . The strengths of traditional and alternative medical systems include their holistic approach, affordability, considering persons as integrated, feeling and active beings, not just biological organisms. Siddha medicine  is gaining prominence among public in recent years. Many patients and general public  believe that Siddha medicines are natural and therefore safe. Recently integrative medicine approach recently came  forward with the optimism of providing an affordable and practical solution to the global healthcare crisis, especially in developing countries like India. Department of AYUSH, under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare proposed a new approach by integrating of Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani, and homoeopathy with Allopathic system to ensure health for all citizens across the country. The success of the new, ‘integrative’, approach will lie in its capability to identify the respective values, beliefs, fundamentals, practices, strengths, and weaknesses of all the systems. China has effectively incorporated practices from both traditional and modern medicine through a bottoms up approach.  Siddha system of medicine a widely accepted traditional medical system in India which has its roots in Tamil Nadu and is providing health care facilities through apex institutes like National Institute of Siddha, Chennai with a  total running OPD cases of 30,00338(2004 – 2021). Hence the present study was undertaken to ascertain the Health Seeking Behavior of a sample of patients attending Ayodhidoss Pandithar Hospital , NIS.