Shot in the arm for Chinese traditional medicine practitioners

AsiaOne: KUALA LUMPUR - Chinese traditional medicine practitioners who are just starting their practice will receive a shot in the arm under the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry's 1Azam fund.
Deputy Minister Datuk Heng Seai Kie said the Federation of Chinese Physicians and Acupuncturists Associations of Malaysia (FCPAAM) would recommend the physicians with a family income of below RM2,000 (S$822) to the ministry.
"The ministry will then help by giving them equipment, but it must cost below RM5,000," Heng told reporters yesterday after opening the FCPAAM's first traditional Chinese medicine treatment centre here.
She added that a total of RM247mil had been allocated for the 1Azam fund last year.
However, she said the offer was only open to those aged below 60.
Heng also said the FCPAAM has agreed to help the less fortunate by getting 1Azam physicians to treat Welfare Department financial aid recipients at half price.
The 1Azam programme, under the GTP's Low-Income Households NKRA, provides job opportunities through four avenues of Azam Tani (agriculture), Azam Niaga (entrepreneurial), Azam Khidmat (services) and Azam Kerja (job placements).
"Traditional Chinese medicine was previously not recognised by modern medicine but we cannot deny that the knowledge of practitioners has been proven and treatment is recognised by all groups in Malaysia.
"Records by FCPAAM show that the non-Chinese communities have increasingly visited traditional Chinese medicine centres," she added.
FCPAAM president Ng Po Kok said it had a membership of about 3,000 physicians and therapists from 23 associations nationwide.
"We are still in the middle of discussions with the Health Ministry on the Traditional Chinese Medicine Bill. We would like the ministry to better educate the public about what traditional Chinese medicine is by conducting roadshows," he said.