Hospitals to offer traditional cures

Star: THREE hospitals in the country have been picked by the Health Ministry to offer complementary medicines and treatment for patients.
They are Putrajaya Hospital, Kepala Batas Hospital in Penang and Sultan Ismail Hospital in Johor Baru.
Deputy Health Minister Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad said the hospitals were chosen as pioneers to experiment the integration of traditional treatment and modern medicine.
Replying to Dr Rozaidah Talib (BN-Ampang), he said apart from providing herb-based treatment for cancer patients, the hospitals were also given permission to introduce Malay massage as rehabilitative treatment for post-stroke patients.
"If the treatments are scientifically proven to be effective, the ministry would consider endorsing the medicine as a catalytic substance to treat certain diseases," he said.
According to Dr Latiff, there was a high awareness level among the public of the effectiveness of certain traditional products, especially herb-based food or drinks with therapeutic ingredients.
"Refreshing herbs such as tongkat ali, kacip fatimah and mengkudu have flooded the local market and some herbs like misai kucing have been proven to help treat bladder stone problem."
He said the hospitals would employ experts from Chinese universities to research the effectiveness of various herbs in treating cancer and hire trained masseurs to provide the traditional massages.