Hyderabad’s history is incomplete without a mention of the 80-year-old Nizamia General Hospital for Unani medicine. The vast structure adorned with domes and arches, that stands close to the historic Charminar, was constructed by the last Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan. In its glorious lifespan, the now government hospital witnessed the second world war, epidemics, shift from monarchy to democracy and the onslaught of Allopathy medicine. But it could still retain its character.
Today, the COVID-19 pandemic has literally pushed the identity of the centre and its traditional medicine system into the background. The entire hospital is now a level-1 COVID-19 facility. Suspects from nearby areas are brought here for screening and isolation. The hospital has a capacity of 200 beds and it is exclusively allotted for tackling COVID-19.
The normal functioning of the hospital has been disturbed as regular patients are not allowed anymore for any check-ups or treatment. The daily count of patients was between 300 and 500 and many of them would come for paralysis treatment. Though the maintenance and upkeep was not up to the mark, it still rolled out age-old treatments. Today, it is a different case as only Allopathic medicines and treatments are prescribed in this property, instead of Unani.
According to M.A. Farooqui, In-charge Principal of Government Nizamia Tibbi college attached to the hospital, there are 200 doctors who only observe and assist the Allopathic doctors monitoring the COVID-19 patients.
“We are ready to treat the patients using Unani, but we are waiting for permission from the government,” he said.
In the last few days, Ayurveda, Unani, Nature Cure and Homeopathy hospitals in the city have been converted into isolation wards for COVID-19 suspects. These traditional and alternate forms of medicine are controlled by AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy) department which falls under the Ministry of Health. The state government has decided to use these hospitals within the city to fight the pandemic.
In Ameerpet, the Nature Cure hospital is a landmark. There is also a railway station on its name. The hospital would boast of a clientele consisting of middle class, upper middle class and even those from the film industry. The yoga classes conducted here were popular with locals. There was always a waiting period running into weeks to enroll as in-patient and avail various treatments ranging from mudbath to massages. At any given time, there would be at least 100 patients in the centre and an additional 50 would make a visit to the doctors everyday. Recently, all the patients were asked to leave and the sprawling Naturopathy centre was remodelled into isolation wards. All the 150 beds are now occupied by COVID-19 suspects. If they are found positive, they are shifted to Gandhi hospital or other government hospitals. Around 20 doctors, who were usually busy, do not have much work in hand now as Allopathy doctors have taken over the campus.
Asked if they offered to treat COVID-19 patients, a Naturopathy doctor, who did not wish to be named, said: “Since this is a pandemic, we will abide by the state government’s decision. We have informed the officials that through Naturopathy we can treat this condition within a few days. Homeopathy doctors have said they can turn positive patients to negative in three days. Even Ayurveda doctors have come forward and said they can help the patients get rid of the virus within a week. But we understand people are in panic mode. When the fear is less and the situation is in control, we hope to treat COVID-19 patients.”
According to additional director of state AYUSH N. Lingaraju, 250 beds in an Ayurveda hospital in Erragadda and 150 beds in a Homeopathy hospital in Ramanthapur have also been converted to serve as exclusive COVID-19 isolation centres. These hospitals have stopped their regular services.