Udupa Committee Report 1958, Indian Health Policy 1983, National Population Policy 2000, ISM and H Policy 2002, and the National Rural Health Mission are some of the policy recommendations for mainstreaming of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy. Based on these recommendations, the physical mainstreaming for patient care and research is established but is not popularized in some hospitals and among health care providers due to various reasons.

To study the feasibility of integrating Ayurveda with allopathic system in the management of Osteoarthritis (OA) (knee).

This operational study was conducted at Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, India, in collaboration with the World Health Organization, India office. The study covered 252 patients of OA knee, out of which 201 completed the study. For the management of OA, standardized Yogaraja Guggulu, Ashwagandha, and Narayan taila were used along with lifestyle and dietary recommendations.

Among 201 patients who completed the study period of 8 weeks, there was statistically significant improvement in signs and symptoms, King George's Medical College (KGMC)and Visual Analog Scale (VAS) scores (p-value < 0.05). There was statistically significant reduction in the intake of rescue medicines and side effects of oral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug. The study could develop referrals from orthopedics department to Ayurvedic unit for management of OA knee.

It was evident from the study that the Ayurvedic treatment is effective in the management of OA. It also concluded that continued communication and scientific approaches will ascertain actual integration and there is good scope for developing integration model in the management of OA. The Ayurveda health care providers were able to establish functional integration with their allopathic counterparts and were able to manage cross referrals.

Bhat S, Gupta V, Srikanth N, Padhi MM, Rana R, Singhal R, Dhiman KS. Approaches for integrating Ayurveda with Conventional System in a Multispeciality Hospital for Management of Osteoarthritis (Knee). J Res Ayurvedic Sci 2017;1(1):40-47.