Jagran has been working with traditional healers since 1989. The untimely death of 15 children from diphtheria in Charmar village of Kurabar district motivated the Jagran team to look for a more accessible form of treatment in tribal pockets of rural Rajasthan. Jagran named these traditional healers as Gunis .
The dictionary meaning of the word “ Guni” :
- Someone who hold special qualities or talents.
- One who practices traditional medicines, providing preventive and curative treatments to patients of all castes, areas, backgrounds and income.
- A carrier of knowledge in the Guru-Shishya tradition.
- One who is close to nature and works for its conservation and sustainable use.
Gunis are traditional healers who treat health problems by utilizing local medicinal plants and other natural sources. They are conservators of biological resources viz. Medicinal plants and carriers of traditional medicines knowledge, who use the knowledge virtuously to heal people for hundreds of years.
In today‘s scenario where government clinics are often understaffed and hospitals are too expensive and far in rural villages, Gunis are vital option for many of the poorest of rural India. The main objective of Jagran behind this initiative was to make primary healthcare accessible and preserve this traditional form of knowledge which has been passed on through generations. Jagran has been involved in capacity building and skill up gradation of the gunis since the last two decades. The latest intervention involves creating a guni directory and geo-tagging and geo-listing of the gunis which would help enhance their visibility
CASE STUDIES
OUR ACHIEVEMENTS
- Established a national network of Gunis and Dais in 8 states
- 15,000 home herbal gardens have been established in 7 states for primary healthcare.
- Guni protocol prepared
- 36 herbal formulations from local medicinal plants registered with the state Ayurveda drug department
- Established centralized medicinal plant parks and nursery for conservation, education and promotion of traditional medicines
- Forest Exposure and Knowledge Exchange training Organizing for gunis since 1993.
- 9 Master Guni trained in complementary health training program.
- 76 Guni Trained in Complementary Health Training Programme.
- 135 Guni Trained in Aaditherapy Training Programme.
- 45 Gunis Supported to Establish home clinics.
- 2 Guni training cum treatment center (GTTC) has been established.
- Gunis created sustainable livelihoods for their families by providing traditional health practices
- Creation of 200 Community Health Knowledge Registers of traditional health knowledge at the Panchayat level
- 15733 patients got benefit by chiropractic, Myotherapy, Traditional Medicines, Ayurvedic treatments in 170 health camp.