Experts red flag health TV shows

Kurnool: ‘Health is in your hands’ goes the adage. But don’t just lay your hands on advice dished out by every health guru and fitness expert you come across. The ‘pandemic’ of health shows that beam pictures straight into middle-class homes could just be doing more harm than good to people’s health. 

Health shows on Telugu TV channels are being lapped up by numerous households. The shows claim to have a remedy for every ailment – from hyper tension, diabetics, and arthritis to coronary diseases and even Botox facelifts. Hosted or featuring self-styled doctors, nutrition experts, fitness gurus, most health shows are sponsored by manufacturers of supplement, gyms or drug companies.

Television channels in Telugu are flooded with half-an-hour medical counselling programmes presented by Ayurveda and Homeopathy practioners. Medical college professors and educators have raised a red flag over information and practices which is not backed by verifiable data. M.L. Narayana Babu, an independent TV producer, said Telugu channels operators found a target group among the health conscious middle-class families and raking in big money. Health shows have in fact improved the financial health of TV channels, he said tongue- in-cheek.

Rates for slots are kept low enough for doctors to book health shows. A half-an-hour slot on a Telugu channel goes for anything between '20,000 and '50,000, he said.

Dr A. Rajendra Reddy, director in charge of the Ayush department, said anybody prescribing drugs is in contravention of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, and the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, can be punished. Disseminating medical information on TV channels should be based on case studies and not through generalisation of medical practices, he said.

Dr Vincent, a PG student of medicine, said the trend was disturbing. Quick-fix solutions handed out by dodgy experts is a dangerous proposition. On the other hand, Indian Medical Association, Kurnool chapter, secretary Dr Mallikarjuna said that as long as these ‘TV experts’ of Homeopathy and Ayurveda don’t hold syringe and scalpel, they are free to spread their knowledge since they too hold degrees in medicine issued by NTR Health University. 

“Our problem is when they prescribe cures under allopathy, of which they have no knowledge, said Dr Mallikarjuna.

ASCI to rein in TV channels
Dr A. Rajender Reddy, professor of Homeopathy and director in charge of Ayush, told Deccan Chronicle that they have received guidelines from the Centre to rein in the spurious practices in the profession. 

He said that in order to promote safe use of Ayush medicines, the ministry of Ayush has signed an MoU with the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) to undertake monitoring of misleading advertisements appearing in the print and TV media and bring the defaulters to the notice of the Centre and the state regulators for taking necessary action.

Dr R. Yugandhar Reddy, a practicing Homeopathy doctor said that quality standards of 847 Ayurvedic drugs and 448 Unani drugs have been developed and published in the respective pharmacopoeias.

He said, permissible limits of heavy metals, pesticide, aflatoxins and microbial load are also prescribed.”