“Medical pluralism potentials to comfortism in reproductive health approach among South Asian Muslim women”.

“Medical pluralism potentials to comfortism in reproductive health approach among South Asian Muslim women”.

Dr. Amina Ather, MD, Team Lead, IFRTK, Bangalore, INDIA .2009.

Medical pluralism, the word which means multiple medicine applications, with the rise of technology and the techniques the thrust of treatment revolves round the table of structural approach and there is a huge dependency on the technology. This has developed like a target medicine and the population moves with it's old belief of systemic approach and which opens door for a pluralistic medicine and this is more like a multi cuisine which offers all the therapies.

An observational study with FF-face to face interactions, FGD-Focused group discussions , when observed that the Muslim women from south Asian countries (India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh , Pakistan )prefer a pluralistic approach when they are looking for reproductive health management . If there is a surgery it is complemented by Unani medicine / Islamic medicine for the diet and spiritual healing for psychological assessment.

Even as the traditional medicine constitutes the assortment traditions and practices, empirical support with conceptual rigor, this is pertaining to the ancestral therapies and they all have the same origin. Like the Malaya medicine of Malaysia and Unani medicine of India have a common origin and that is the Arab physicians, most of the therapies have a commonality with them like the massage therapy and the spiritual healing as these two groups practice a common religion Islam.

As we move on to the health seeking behavior trends in regards of reproductive health care, the scholarly traditions of the Islamic medicine whether it is from quran or hadiyath handled organic and psychological problems with medical care and counseling for example as simple as dates and olives they have reference in the quran and they are used widely.

Medical pluralism is also a multiple choice channel when health seeking behaviors trends are validated, the South Asian Muslim women, even with their linguistic differences have a conformism for a pluralistic approach for reproductive health care. They take medicine and the techniques of child birth with counseling from different medicinal back ground which makes it a pluralistic approach.

dramina.ifrtk@gmail.com, www.ifrtk.org