India is like ATM for drug companies: Lego

Pasighat (Arunachal Pradesh): Yanung Jamoh Lego, who has revived the traditional medicine practices of the Adi community in Arunachal Pradesh, was honoured with the Padma Shri award this year. Known as the “Queen of Herbs,” Yanung is deeply concerned about the growing dominance of drug companies in India. She believes that these companies treat India as “an ATM.”

The 58-year-old Yanung Jamoh Lego hails from Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh and has previously served as the Deputy Director of the State Agriculture Department. She has been treating patients for over 35 years. While working in the Agriculture Department, she dedicated herself to studying herbal practices and is now fully committed to using herbal plants to treat various human ailments.

Yanung employs herbal remedies to treat conditions like malaria, jaundice, gastritis, and acidity. Additionally, she provides treatments for appendicitis, piles, asthma, cancer, rabies, kidney stones, bronchitis, pneumonia, cough, sinusitis, and tonsillitis. Every Tuesday and Saturday, she provides herbal medicines to patients who travel from across the country to visit her center in Pasighat. Alongside patients suffering from severe illnesses, researchers also frequently visit her center.

Yanung expressed her grievances about the lack of government support for sourcing herbal plants and conducting research, which requires significant financial resources. She accused drug companies of creating hurdles in her work and criticized the government for providing benefits to these companies while ignoring herbal medicine, as it does not generate revenue for the center.

She also stated, “Foreign drug companies treat India like an ATM— extract money and profit from here.”