NGO wants Ramdev to prove cancer treatment

PANAJI: A non-government organization active in the health sector has appealed to yoga guru Baba Ramdev to come out with authentic scientific clinical trials to show that his treatment can cure cancer or ensure long-term survival of the patients.

"Before Baba (Ramdev) can claim that he or yoga can cure cancer, he must present foolproof scientific clinical trials," said Shekhar Salkar, oncologist and General Secretary of National Organisation for Tobacco Eradication (NOTE).

"The trials should be put to the scrutiny of world - standard scientists before they are accepted," he added.

NOTE's reaction came after Ramdev's statement in Bhubaneshwar that "he was trying to establish that breathing exercises could treat diseases like cancer and thyroid-related ailments".

"Breathing exercises have the power to cure cancer and thyroid problems and clean up clogged arteries," Ramdev said during a function of the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) Deemed University in Bhubaneshwar on Saturday. The popular yoga guru was bestowed Doctor of Philosophy degree by the university.

"Yoga can be an addition to treatment but it cannot be a treatment in itself," the NOTE General Secretary noted.

"It can help to de-stress a patient and boost his (disease) fighting power. But under no circumstances, it can be a treatment on it own," Salkar said.

"I request cancer patients not to discontinue the medical treatment, even if they want to go in for other therapies like yoga and shivambu (urine therapy)," the Goa-based oncologist maintained.

According to some statistics, India reports eight lakh new cancer patients annually, including 80,000 breast cancer cases amongst women.