IDENTIFY THE REASONS FOR COMPARATIVELY LESS TENDENCY OF YOUNG GENERATION TOWARDS AYURVEDIC MEDICAL TREATMENT (SPECIAL REFERENCE TO RATNAPURA DISTRICT)

The demand for Ayurvedic medicine has been growing even in the countries where western medicine was introduced. This is due to the fact that Ayurvedic medicine attempts to treat the primary cause of the disease and it tends to have less after effects since it uses herbal plants and minerals. However, in Sri Lanka, those who have more tendency towards Ayurvedic medicine seems to be the population over 25 years of age. It is evident that less tendency is from the youth population between the age category of 18-25 years. Thus, the study attempts to address the issue of reasons behind low tendency of young generation towards Ayurvedic medicine in Ratanapura District. This study mainly comprises of primary data and the sample of the study includes five Divisional Secretariats from Ratnapura District selected randomly. Chi Square method was employed for data analysis. According to the results of the analysis, demographic factors have no effects on low tendency of youth population towards obtaining Ayurvedic medical treatment while the variables in terms of,issues arising from Ayurveda system of medicine, attitude of young generation, issues arising from state sector, influence from modern western medicine, nature of the disease of an individual have an effect on the low tendency of young generation towards Ayurvedic medicine.