Traditional Medicine in Asia

Traditional Medicine in Asia
the founder of a family of practitioners, who
still continue to be active.
During the first half of the 20th century,
dhivehibeys flourished and produced
many notable practitioners such as
Ibrahim Faamuladheyri Kilegefaanu,
Naifaru Dhonkaleyfaanu, Ahmed Kaamil
and Badeegey Mohammed Didi. They were
instrumental in popularizing new concepts
learnt from Unani medicine throughout the
country and ushering in what can be
described as the golden era of
dhivehibeys. The era ended when modern
medicine came during the ’50s and
gradually weaned patients away from the
traditional system.
Along with the decline in dhivehibeys,
its practitioners also largely disappeared,
since not many new entrants came forward
to replace the aging masters. Heera Yousuf
Fulhu was perhaps the last survivor from
the golden era.
Tragically, many aging practitioners
died without having an opportunity to pass
on their knowledge to the next generation.
Centuries of accumulated knowledge in
their collective memory was thus irrevocably
lost. A monograph on individual
ingredients and a few handwritten manuscripts
are the only records that survive.
Despite the absence of written texts
and the lack of a formal system for sharing
information, existing sources of knowledge
agree remarkably on the general principles
of dhivehibeys. However, when it comes
to details, different schools of thought
represented by traditional families have
disagreements. For example, for treating
bone injuries all schools agree on the
ingredients of the dressing. But for
tempering it the Gaddaduge school
believes in applying strong heat, whereas
some others believe in applying only
moderate heat with sunlight.
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At various times many distinct branches
of dhivehibeys flourished to cater to the
varying needs of the society. In earlier times
a priority need was the treatment of battle
wounds resulting from recurrent skirmishes
with the ubiquitous pirates. Historical
anecdotes indicate that the branch of
dhivehibeys called kandifaarubeys (literally,
treatment of sword wounds) was highly
developed in those days. Another branch
of dhivehibeys was lolubeys, or the
treatment of eye diseases. Ruggalubeys
specialized in treating bone disorders. There
were also practitioners who specialized in
circumcision.
Dhivehibeys was never far from
spiritual healing or fanditha as the natives
called it. Some of the most successful
practitioners were those who could get the
right mix of the two. One of the last exponents
of this technique was Ihavandhoo
Hajee, who successfully combined his
potions with charms and prayers.
With the advent of effective Western
alternatives some branches such as
kandifaarubeys and lolubeys have virtually
disappeared. But some others continue to
be popular. A large part of the population
still depend on ruggalubeys to heal their
fractures and the overwhelming majority go
to dhivehibeys practitioners for circumcision.
In recent years the Government has
taken several steps to develop dhivehibeys.
This includes the appointment of a highlevel
committee and a chair for
dhivehibeys at the Faculty of Health
Sciences of the Maldives College of Higher
Education. The committee has recognized
that improving access to herbs is the key
to preserving dhivehibeys. Otherwise,
more and more patients are going to find
it not only easier but also cheaper to buy
an aspirin at the neighbourhood store than
to go searching all over the island for
impossible ingredients.