Campaigners in India have demanded that children under 14 be banned from swallowing live fish in a traditional treatment for asthma administered at a festival every year in June.
Hundreds of thousands of sufferers gather annually in Hyderabad in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh to gulp down small live fish and a special herb paste.
The Goud family, which says it received the medicine recipe from a Hindu saint in 1845, treats people from across India for free during a two-day period determined by astrologers and the onset of the monsoon.
Photo: AFP
照片：法新社
The wriggling 5cm fish, which the family says clear the throat on their way down, will be dispensed today and tomorrow.
Child rights group Balala Hakkula Sangham has lobbied the state’s Human Rights Commission to stop children under 14 from taking the medicine as it is “unscientific” and a violation of human rights.
“The process of giving the medicine is unhygienic as the person gives it to lakhs [hundreds of thousands] of people without washing their hands,” added the petition seeking a ban.
Photo: AFP
照片：法新社
Last Tuesday Andhra Pradesh’s Human Rights Commission ordered a report into the complaints to be delivered within a week.
The Goud family claims “fish medicine” has been proven to cure asthma and other respiratory problems, but it declines to reveal the secret herb formula.
“It has been the practice of the Goud Family for the past 166 years to offer this medicine free of cost to those who need it,” Bathini Harinath Goud, head of the family, said ahead of the event.
Photo: AFP
照片：法新社
He told AFP that children were not at risk and that people who complained were in the pay of pharmaceutical firms that produce mainstream asthma drugs.
“These companies are paying money to rake up the issue as they are worried about the fish medicine affecting their business interests since what we administer is a permanent cure for asthma,” he said.
Goud said that last year 400,000 people swallowed live fishes handed out by 200 family members.
The Indian government arranges special trains for the “fish medicine” festival and extra police are on duty to control crowds.
After digesting the treatment, patients are told to go on a strict diet of specific food for 45 days.
(AFP)
印度社運人士要求禁止十四歲以下孩童，在每年六月的一個活動上，被給予「生吞活魚」以治療氣喘的民俗療法。
千百位為疾病所苦的人，每年都聚集在印度南部安德拉邦省的海德拉巴，大口嚥下活生生的小魚與特製的草藥醬。
巴蒂尼‧古德親族在為期兩天的時間，提供來自印度各地的人們，免費治療。而這兩天，取決於占星家與雨季開端時節。此親族說此為印度聖人於一八四五年傳授下來的處方。
這尾身長五公分蠕動著的魚，今明兩天將被分配成藥。據此親族說，嚥下魚兒時能清通喉嚨。
兒童權利團體Balala Hakkula Sangham已遊說省政府的人權委員會，下令停止十四歲以下的孩童服用此「藥品」，因為這是「不科學的」且違反人權。
這份要求禁止的請願書寫道，「給予這項『藥品』的程序是不衛生的，因為餵食者接連餵上數千數百人的期間，未曾洗過手。」
上週二於安德拉邦省的人權委員會下令在一週內完成此投訴的報告。
古德親族聲稱「活魚秘方」已證實能治癒氣喘與其他呼吸道疾病，但不願透露草藥的秘密配方。
此親族的大家長巴蒂尼‧古德在今年治病活動之前說，「提供這項免費的治療給需要的人，已是古德親族過去一百六十六年來的慣例。」
他告訴法新社說，孩童並不會有危險，且那些抱怨的人們，都有收受製造氣喘藥品藥廠的金錢。
他說，「這些藥廠想藉由金錢賄賂來炒作此議題，因為他們擔心『活魚秘方』將會影響公司利益，因為我們餵食的是能治癒氣喘的靈藥。」
古德說，去年家族兩百位成員，餵食四十萬人「生吞活魚」。
印度政府特地為「活魚秘方」活動，安排專屬火車，並且加派警力站崗控制人潮。
將療方消化後，病患被告知要在後續四十五天中，保持嚴格特定的飲食。
（法新社／翻譯：林亞蒂）
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