10^th April is celebrated as World Homeopathy Day. It is a weeklong event commencing from 10^th April to 16^th April. This day is observed to celebrate the birthday of Dr. Samuel Hanhemann (1755-1843). The primary objective of this day is to create awareness about homeopathy and to make homeopathy accessible. Apart from these, it also focuses on developing homeopathy on a larger scale, adopting strategies to overcome challenges and improve the quality of education to improve the success rate of homeopaths.

The theme of World Homeopathy Day 2022 is “Homeopathy: People’s choice for wellness”.

The Homeopathy awareness week is celebrated all over the world; there are free public events throughout the week, including lectures, volunteer first-aid events, media interviews and free and reduced-price clinics. The use of homeopathy is reported on mainstream media and on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.

History:

Homeopathy comes from the Greek words homeo meaning similar and pathos means disease. Homeopathy is a system of alternative medicine and works on the doctrine of similia similibus curentur or like cures like. It means when a substance is taken in small amount, it will cure the same symptoms it causes if taken in large amounts.

Homeopathy is based on the belief that every individual is different and everyone’s body reacts and heals differently.

Hippocrates “Father of Medicine” founded homeopathy in 5^th century BC. He advocated the need for understanding each individual’s body and their healing power for diagnosing and treating their illness. It was he who laid the foundation for homeopathy. However its prominence rose in the 19th century, thanks to the pioneering work of the German physician and chemist Samuel Hahnemann.

During the 19^th century, medical practitioners used ineffective and brutal practices. Hanhemann opposed the harsh medical practices and usage of strong medicines that had side effects. Homeopathy medicines had rare side effects. People started opting for homeopathy and were getting better outcomes as compared to medicine practitioners. In the 19th century, homeopathy led to the abandonment of bloodletting and purging treatments, which were ineffective and harmful, and to the advance of more effective and scientifically-based medicine.

Homeopathy preparations include animal, plants, minerals and synthetic substances, which are referred as Latin names such as arsenicum album (arsenic oxide), thyodinium (thyroid hormone). The pills are made from a lactose substance (mostly sugar). Drops of liquid are placed and evaporated.

On World Homeopathy Day, India:

In India, this day is observed in patronage of the ministry of AYUSH, Government of India.

In spite of several criticisms faced by homeopathy, A growing body of evidence corroborating homeopathic medicines ability to manage and prevent a wide range of diseases is emerging.