More people going for traditional medicines

NST: KUALA LUMPUR: While the country may be marching towards developed status by 2020, Malaysians, it seems, will continue to opt for the old and tested ways when it comes to their health.
They are expected to spend more than RM1 billion on traditional and complementary medicines in 2020.
Director-general of Health Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican said this was based on the trend which showed that consumer expenditure for traditional and complementary medicines had risen from RM272 million in 2000 to almost RM400 million now.
"Malaysians, just as in many other countries, are turning to traditional and complementary medicines and the industry is growing fast," he told the New Straits Times.
Dr Ismail said the government was aware of the importance of the industry and would ensure that all plans to integrate traditional and complementary medicines would be carried out carefully.
This includes giving due consideration to the safety and medico-legal aspects, religious sensitivities and local culture.
Dr Ismail said the move to integrate traditional and complementary medicines into the Malaysian healthcare system was timely as it would result in a more holistic approach.
However, he stressed that traditional and complementary medicines needed to be introduced in a regulated way.
In Malaysia, traditional and complementary medicines have been divided into five groups with the formation of five practitioner bodies — Malay, Chinese, Indian, Complementary and Homeopathy.
More than 7,000 traditional and complementary medicine practitioners were registered with their respective bodies last year.
"Malaysia’s approach is now towards integrated medicine where people can benefit from both systems."
Integrated medicine, he said, focused on health and healing, rather than disease and treatment.
Following the cabinet’s approval last year for integrated hospitals to be set up, the pilot project is set to kick off in October this year at the Kepala Batas Hospital in Penang.
This will be followed by the Putrajaya Hospital and Sultan Ismail Hospital in Pandan in Johor in December.
Herbal preparation, acupuncture and traditional massage are the three elements which would be introduced in the hospitals conducting the pilot projects.