In last couple of years, the Ethnomedicine practice by Gond tribe is facing tough time in Chhattisgarh’s Dhamtari district and if not taken care, this traditional healing method is going to get extinct, revealed the findings of a research carried out by Subham Singh, student of School of Studies in Anthropology under Pt Ravishankar Shukla University (PRSU), Raipur.

Ethnomedicine broadly refers to the traditional medical practices concerned with the cultural interpretation of health, diseases and illness that addresses the healthcare process and healing practices.

“Due to modernisation as well as the cutting of forest, the medicinal plant varieties in Dhamtari area are on the verge

of extinction and Ethnomedicine practice by Gond tribe has witnessed negative impacts,” said Singh, who had done the research under Head of SOS Anthropology Professor Ashok Pradhan. Modern treatment techniques have also added to the trouble to traditional healers practicing the Ethnomedicine, he added. Based on the research findings, Singh has proposed a suggestion that State Government should take necessary steps for the conservation of Ethnomedicine practice by Gond tribes. Moreover, to encourage traditional healers, the government should frequently conduct camps as well as programmes so that people could draw advantage of these healers’ knowledge. While a major population in the country is deprived of health facilities, Ethnomedicine practice is a boon to them, he said. The research findings suggests that traditional healers of ‘Gond’ tribe effectively do the treatment of diabetes, migraine, impotence and over 200 diseases through separate herbs available in forest, said Subham elaborating that this method is 68 percent more cost effective as compared to the modern treatment.