On a quest to make Ayurveda mainstream, Dr Rohit Sane of Madhavbaug Clinics

An EXIM Bank report pegs the Indian herbal industry at an estimated Rs 4,205 crore, expected to reach Rs 7,000 crore by 2020. While these numbers are mostly for Ayurvedic products, even the science by itself has a lot of remedies that can be used to treat severe life threatening ailments as well.

One name which is using the remedies prescribed by Ayurveda to effectively rid patients is Sane Care Group founded by Dr Rohit Sane. Sane Care runs Madhavbaug chain of hospitals and clinics in Maharashtra. And besides using Ayurveda to treat patients at one-fourth the cost of allopathy, Sane Care also claims to have successfully integrated Ayurveda with modern science to formulate therapies that can treat serious heart problems. YourStory recently caught up with the entrepreneur-doctor to chronicle his story.

The journey so far

Dr. Rohit is a MBBS from Aurangabad University, has a fellowship in Cardiac Rehabilitation from Apollo Hospitals and has also been an Ex-fellow of Royal Society of Health (UK). Though he started his professional life by practicing in Ghatkopar in suburban Mumbai, he soon moved into small towns in Maharashtra to take forward his knowledge. His first venture was Vaidya Sane Ayurvedic Panchakarma center established in 1999. The centre received good response from customers and that gave him the confidence of moving ahead in his entrepreneurial outing.

From simple Ayurvedic treatment, to manufacturing Ayurvedic products to having a copyrighted Ayurveda procedure, the Sane Group has grown from strength to strength over years. Last year the group had a turnover of Rs 35 crores and employs a workforce of around 450 employees. Madhavbaug – the brand name under which Sane Care Group’s clinics operate – today have 165 clinics and 3 hospitals located at Maharashtra, Indore, Goa, and London.

We asked him if he likes his avatar of a doctor better or that of a businessman, and Dr. Rohit says he enjoys both the roles. “When I’m in front of patients I enjoy my role as doctor because there is lot innovation that can be done. When I’m in front of my staff and my business colleagues I behave like businessman and I enjoy that to.” He is very satisfied with the way Sane Care Group has progressed so far. From starting a small Panchkarma centre in 1999, that later grew up into big cardiac rehabilitation centre. To setting up manufacturing facilities for making Ayurvedic medicines, to opening Madhavbaug Institute of Medical Education & Research(MIMER) – the 13 year old venture has diversified into related areas that supplement its core business – helping its grow.

Over the long term, Dr. Rohit wants to spread Ayurveda to maximum number of states and try to bridge the gap between allopathy and Ayurveda in the real world. “I believe Ayurveda is still 100 years behind allopathy and that is because of lack of available options. My long term goal would be to make Ayurveda available to villages as well so that there is availability of services and then people can decide whether to go for Ayurveda or allopathy,” he quips. 

A copyrighted cure 

Dr. Rohit claims that Madhavbaug is the first of its kind residential medical facility and the world’s first Ayurvedic Cardiac hospital that treats heart disease using Ayurveda. Patients are treated here without any kind of surgery using ‘Sampoorna Hriday Shuddhikaran’ a copyrighted treatment. This Ayurveda therapy is a combination of daily routine, yoga, exercise, Panchakarma treatments and some lifestyle changes.

So how can a common science have a copyrighted cure? “Sampurna Hriday Shuddhikaran is the combination of various stages therapies explained in Ayurveda here and there. If you read the Rodha Rog i.e. heart disease related texts of Ayurveda, at no point is Sampurna Hriday Shuddhikaran procedure mentioned anywhere. It is a process we have created through our skill sets, using the science, through our knowledge that we put in pathos-physiology of heart disease and procedures which might help heart disease,” explains Dr. Rohit. He developed this procedure after four years of research and after using the technique and studying the results in about 500 patients. The success rate of the therapy has also earned the research paper a place in Lancet American Heart Association Journal i.e. Circulation – a top journal for cardiology.

Sane Care Group has also developed about 150 Ayurvedic products – 100 medicinal and 50 beauty products that prescribed for many ailments that we would otherwise turn to allopathy for. Diabetes, acidity, piles and arthritis are ailments that Sane Care products can cure.

But the journey to make Ayurveda mainstream has not been without its share of challenges. The first roadblock were the doctors whom Sane Care Group recruited, who were themselves not convinced of the potential of an Aurvedic cure. Getting professional doctors, who would take up the challenge of using Ayurveda effectively was the next challenge. And the final challenge was to drive hygienic execution of Ayurvedic treatments. Dr. Rohit knows it’s a long drawn task, but even he is in it for the long term, he says he is passionate to make Ayurveda more mainstream and will strive to make it a reality.

So the next time you feel sick, instead of popping those pills, try eating some medicinal herbs – they both do the same thing.

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