GUJARAT, INDIA, April 22, 2011: As more and more people take to alternative medicine, ayurveda and naturopathy clinics in the state seem to be growing rapidly. This could be gauged from the fact that such clinics and hospitals in cities like Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Surat have seen their footfalls doubling in the last two years.
Kutch based Swas Healthcare, that runs a chain of naturopathy clinics across the state, is planning to come up with its second hospital within the next six months. Swas now operates a 40-bed hospital at Kharoi in Kutch. Swas also runs two clinics at Ahmedabad, and one each at Surat and Rajkot apart from its hospital in Kutch.
Similarly, Vadodara based Sarvodaya Parivar Mandal Trust which runs a 35-bed naturopathy hospital has seen its wait-list of patients seeking admission more than double from a two-month period around a couple of years ago to four to six months waiting now. The hospital is not only treating patients with common ailments like diabetes and arthritis, but also people with psycho-somatic problems.
Vadodara has seen a spurt in activities in the ayurveda and naturopathy segment, with many NGOs taking up such initiatives as an add-on service they are already providing together with wellness and rejuvenation centers coming up in parts of north Gujarat.