Can India's Ancient Medicine Serve Modern Public Health?

Ayurveda holds a complex position within India's healthcare landscape, being widely recognized and utilized yet on the institutional periphery. Approximately half of all Indians engage with AYUSH systems, with Ayurveda being a frequent choice for daily well-being and sometimes for treatment. However, its individualized approach raises questions about its capacity to address population health, which typically relies on large-scale, standardized, and predictable interventions.

While Ayurveda excels in preventative care, lifestyle management, and long-term wellness, its principles contrast with population health's demands for reliable, transparently evaluated, and scalable interventions. The challenge lies in reconciling Ayurveda's personalized nature with the uniform needs of public health. Traditional methods like vaccination or sanitation are effective broadly, but Ayurveda's treatments vary based on individual constitution, digestion, and other factors, making standard clinical trials difficult but not impossible.

Population health strategies could benefit from Ayurveda's insights into individual variability, informing better public health approaches. This requires sophisticated research designs, including whole-system and pragmatic trials, to assess real-world effectiveness. Strengthening educational and regulatory standards, along with pharmacovigilance, is essential. Policymakers must define Ayurveda's role, clarifying where it complements, informs, or should yield to public health programs, ensuring its contribution is based on honest, evidence-backed terms.