Has the Pandemic Helped? (Problems of Medical Integration in Russian Reality)

The article considers the issue of the peculiarities of coexistence in the general health preservation system of conventional and non-conventional medicine and the possibilities of "integrating" some components currently classified as non-conventional into the healthcare system (actually conventional medicine) in the form of complementary (additional) parts that can be included primarily in prevention and rehabilitation. Since this process began to develop actively from the late 1980s - early 1990s, the problems of creating Soviet/Russian folk healing and attempts to institutionalize it are touched upon. The emphasis is on the development of the healing component and its subsequent division into areas related to folk medicine, as well as magical-medical and magical-mystical, including (quasi) religious practices, and those based on traditional medicine, traditional medical systems (TMS), including borrowed ones. Taking into account the borrowing processes, the author draws attention to what is happening in South Asian countries, where traditional medicines turned into TMS are included in the health care systems (primarily China and India). The coexistence of these medicines within the framework of public health raises its own questions there (it is almost impossible to talk about integration, especially in India, according to local medical anthropologists). However, parallel work in complementary or alternative versions allows us to solve many issues. During the pandemic, this greatly helped healthcare (especially in China) to quickly cope with the waves of covid. The issue of separation (at the level of associations) of folk healing and "traditional medicine" (homeopathy, phytotherapy, aromatherapy, hirudotherapy, etc. and other methods) is considered, and especially Buryat-Tibetan medicine in Russia in recent years. The author points to the development of Buryat-T ibetan traditional medicine and the possibility of its actual transition to the state of TMS. The author declares no conflict of interests.

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