Morbidity profile of the out patients in Swasthya Rakshan Programme of Siddha Central Research Institute, Chennai

Introduction: Siddha medicine is an ancient system and it is based on holistic health principles with main aim on preventive health care. Goal of public health is to improve health outcomes by preventing disease, promoting behaviors that reduce the risk of communicable and non-communicable diseases, and ensure the public access to quality health services. Swasthya Rakshan Programme (SRP) is a nationwide program to propagate Ayush systems. The purpose of the program is to promote health and health education in villages. The objective of this study is to develop a morbidity profile of the patients attending the SRP for further research in the particular area. Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study has been done in the outreach outpatient department (OPD) and the data were collected from the old records maintained in the Statistical and Survey Division, Department of Clinical Research, Siddha Central Research Institute from April 2017 to March 2020. This record contains the demographic data, socioeconomic status, literacy, and diseases follow-up with diseases codes in the Ayapakkam, Mangadu, and Vanagaram villages in Tamil Nadu, India. Results: Totally 5409 cases who were attending the SRP OPDs from April 2017 to March 2020 have been included in the study. These patients have been repeatedly visiting the Siddha OPD for various illnesses. The women were seeking the Siddha treatment more than the male with Female-1114 cases, Male-553 cases, Female children-42 cases, Male children-29 cases. The diseases have been classified as per the National Siddha Morbidity codes in National Ayush Morbidity standardized terminologies Electronic Portal (NAMASTE Portal). The topmost category of diseases is musculo skeletal diseases and osteo arthritis (41%). diabetes mellitus (10%), cough (8%), and eczema (8%) are the diseases which have a greater number of cases. Conclusion: The success of a public health program depends on the public need. The more revisits of the patients show good response of the Siddha medicine. Hence this morbidity profile shows that there is a great need among the public toward the traditional medicines particularly Siddha medicine and it has been achieved to some extent through SRP program.