Homeopathy gains widespread acceptance in India

• NEW DELHI: As homeopathy supporters marked the 250th birth anniversary of its founder Samuel Hahnemann, they had plenty to cheer about - from innovative treatments for skin diseases to cancer cures, the 'similar, simple, minimum' medicine has advanced by leaps.
• Born out of a freak brush with malaria in Germany about two centuries ago, this branch of medicine, principled around "fighting like with like", has some 15,000 medical options today, its global drugs sales amounting to almost $2 million.
• No small feat for a branch of medicine in a country where a Homeopathy Central Council Act for regularising the practice was framed only in 1973.
• Today the country manufactures its own homeopathy drugs and homeopathy has become one of the fastest growing fields of complementary medicine, thanks mainly to its effectiveness in curing chronic diseases such as asthma, allergies, migraines, ulcers, arthritis and even cancer.
• There are multi-specialty hospitals such as Dr. Batra's Positive Health Clinic Pvt Ltd (DBPHC) - a 24-hour super-speciality clinic chain spread across 15 cities in India, Mauritius and Britain that claims to be India's largest chain of homeopathic clinics.
• "Homeopathy is holistic, gentle and there are no staunch dietary restrictions except for a general preference in avoiding processed food such as aerated drinks, fried and fast food," said Kalyan Banerjee, research director of Mihijam Institute of Homeopathy, who was recently invited to China to cure a pancreatic cancer patient.
• According to Rajiv Shah, a doctor who has practised homeopathy for over 20 years, there are over 3,000 varieties of homeopathic medicines, with five different potencies each - giving the doctor as much as 15,000 medical options.
• "Homeopathy is popular because it is safe, devoid of side effects and works like magic for chronic diseases.