TRADITIONAL, COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE POPULAR

KUALA LUMPUR, March 24 (Bernama) -- Traditional and Complementary Medicine
(T&CM) are gaining popularity among locals since its introduction in three
government hospitals, about 18 months ago.

Health Ministry's T&CM division director Dr Ramli Abd Ghani said currently,
hospitals in southern city of Johor Baharu, northern town of Kepala Batas and
Putrajaya offered traditional and complementary medicine as a pilot project via
acupuncture, Malay traditional massage and herbal medicine.

"There are plans to expand these disciplines to three other hospitals, in
Terengganu, Sabah and Sarawak, sometime in August, this year," he told Bernama
here Tuesday.

Ramli said that statistics showed that up till last month, 14,134 new and
follow-up cases in acupuncture (6,653), traditional Malay massage (6,598) and
herbal medicine (883) were seen at the T&CM units of the hospitals.

He was refuting claims by Malaysian TCM Practitioners Association chairman
Tan Kee Huat that the TCM pilot project had failed to achieve its aim.

Ramli gave an assurance that the plan to introduce T&CM services in 10
government hospitals and two health clinics by next year was on target.

He explained that currently, there was only one T&CM oncologist in each of
the hospital and there were plans to use them to train locals, adding that there
was no need to have a special out-patient unit for those opting for T&CM
because the doctors were already referring cases they felt would benefit from
traditional medicine.

Ramli said the ministry, while carrying out the pilot project, was also
working on a special T&CM bill expected to be tabled in Parliament this year.

He said once the bill was passed, it would allow the ministry to set up a
T&CM Council on the lines of the current Malaysian Medical Council to regulate
and register the T&CM practitioners in the country.

Ramli said traditional practitioners could register online, adding that so
far, about 1,000 out of the estimated 12,000 practitioners in the country had
registered.
-- BERNAMA