Making Sri Lanka a Hub for Wellness- sayora.lk
Sri Lanka is the first country to introduce the “Hospital concept” (Sivikasotthi-Sala) to the world. Mihinthale Hospital, which is the oldest hospital in the world was found at Mihinthale area in the ancient city of Anuradhapura. Several Sri Lankan Kings in the ancient history were medical practitioners. In the pre-historic era, Sage Pulasthi, grandfather of king Ravana who was the only physician attended the conference of sages at Himalaya where Ayurveda originated according to Charaka samhitha, means that before the origin of Ayurveda, Sri Lankans have had their own medical system. King Ravana also a very skillful clever physician and also a surgeon who even performed rhinoplasty according to Ramayanaya. The King Buddhadasa (340–368 AC) was known for his surgical skills and King Aggabodhi VII (766–772 A.C.) was known for his knowledge in medical research about plants. Therefore, Sri Lanka owns a separate Health system which is known as “Indigenous medicine” practiced by the ancestors. This indigenous medicine had the power of curing large number of diseases despite their severity. Communicable as well as non-communicable diseases were separately addressed in the Ola leaf writings and practiced by heart via generations. Chola, Dutch, British invaders destroyed most of these ancient secrets of medicine Sri Lankans practiced. But Sri Lanka is a strong country with a proud history. The Indigenous medical field has somehow survived to be gifted for our next generations.
The global diabetes prevalence in 2019 is estimated to be 9.3% (463 million people), rising to 10.2% (578 million) by 2030. Diabetes prevalence in Sri Lanka was reported at 10.7 % in 2019. Once in every 21 seconds a new diabetic patient is recognized somewhere in the world. So, 4320 peoples are recognized newly as diabetic patients daily. In each minute six people die due to diabetes. So, 3,200,000 people die per year and more than one million people lose their limbs due to this dangerous disease.
With the current pandemic situation, the importance of indigenous medical practices with regards to disease prevention is highly recognized. The Indigenous medicine promotes healthy lifestyle by promoting basics. In present what happen is, people are busy with their day today tight schedules. Therefore, Health is neglected until illnesses affect their day today life. With the current statistics every 1:3 people are suffering from a Non-communicable disease like Diabetes, Cardiovascular Disease, Cancer, etc. But with indigenous practices which promotes wellness, the preventive aspect of these Non-communicable diseases can be promoted among public. Not only among Sri Lankans, even foreigners would love to enhance their wellness with natural methods used in Indigenous medical practices. Owning a proud history with regards to Indigenous medical system, Sri Lanka can easily be made as a hub for promoting Health & Wellness./p>
According to the third sustainable development goal (SDG) of World Health Organization, ensuring healthy lives & promoting well-being for all at all ages www.sayora.lk website was launched recently. Dr. Lakshika Chandrasiri, Co-Founder of sayora.lk further elaborated that by promoting proper indigenous medical practices among public via health education and proper guidance, enhancing the wellness aspect of a person is the main objective of this website.
During this hard time where travel restrictions are imposed, people are forced to use telemedicine services to fulfill their health needs. Sayora.lk provides online health advices and doctor e-consultations, online yoga sessions, online reflexology training sessions and Ayurvedic beauty culture training sessions. Furthermore sayora.lk deliver Ayurvedic medicine to your doorstep together with their partnered pharmacy network. The website also contains a lot of free health educational stuff specially aimed on the preventive aspect. The YouTube video channel & the health article page on the website increase the Health awareness among the public. The main objectives of Ayurveda are to preserve good health of healthy people and to cure diseases of diseased people. Sayora.lk mainly focusing on fulfilling these objectives.
Dr. Lakshika Chandrasiri BAMS(Hons), Adv. Dip. In Ayurveda Beauty Therapy
