ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE GAINING GROUND IN MALAYSIA

By V.Sankara Subramaniam

SHAH ALAM (Selangor, Malaysia), Jan 4 (Bernama) -- Alternative medicine is
increasingly gaining acceptance among Malaysians in not only maintaining good
health but also in treating ailments.

In Malaysia, the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and the Indian Ayurveda and
Siddha medicine are respectively the most common alternative remedy to
conventional medicine for the Chinese and Indian communities.

The president of the Malaysian Society for Complementary Medicine (MSCM) Dr Lee
Chee Pheng remarked that no one wants to fall sick and the side effects of
conventional drugs were pushing the society towards herbal medicine that is
relatively harmless.

"Based on the market demand, TCM is the fastest growing industry in the world,"
said Dr Lee when met at the recent 4th World Ayurveda Congress and Arogya Expo
2010 in Bangalore, India.

Dr Lee led a nine-member team from MSCM to the event considered the world's
biggest on complementary and alternative healthcare. It was organised by India's
Department of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy
(AYUSH), the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council (Pharmexcil) and the
Government of Karnataka.

GREATER CHOICE FROM ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE

Concurring with Dr Lee, Dr. V.M. Palaniappan a leading practitioner of
alternative medicine and author of numerous books on the subject noted that the
ancient Ayurveda and Siddha medicine too have been gaining popularity in
Malaysia with many Ayurvedic centres cropping up over the last decade.

"I have a strong feeling that Ayurvedic system is fast picking up in Malaysia,
and I will not be surprised if more people begin to seek remedies through this
method.

"One of the reasons why people opt for alternative medicine appears to be the
presence of undesirable side effects of chemical-based drugs used in modern
medicine," said this former academician with Universiti Malaya.

Another reason for people seeking treatment using alternative method is the cost
factor. It is a lot cheaper," said the pioneering founder of an evidence and
science based alternative medicine called Ecological Healing System (EHS).

Dr Palani observed that in general people spend lots of money to manage their
health through conventional methods, yet often end up suffering without any
solution to their health woes.

TRADITIONAL AND COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE ACT

Nevertheless, at present alternative medicine in Malaysia is still at infancy
and awaiting guidelines to regulate the sector and integrate
alternative/complimentary medicine into the National Healthcare System.

The Health Ministry is to introduce the TCM Act, which is expected to be
effective by next year, that would provide guidelines to better regulate TCM
practices in Malaysia.

Once the TCM Act is implemented, all TCM practitioners will have to register
with the ministry before they can offer their services.

But this has created some uneasiness among the practitioners like pointed out by
Dr Lee and Dr Palani.

Both related that the practitioners were very much concerned of the upcoming TCM
Act as they were not clear on its content.

"Is it going to restrict the growth of TCM practitioners? Who is going to
instruct and train new practitioners? Who is going to decide as who is
scientific and who is not? The TCM Act appears to talk only about the science
behind the treatment method and the like. One should remember that the
traditional medicine originates from the kitchen," he said.

Commenting further on the matter, Dr Palani pointed out the qualities of the
conventional medicine could only be evaluated by their practitioners and
researchers and the same goes to the traditional medication.

"Moreover the subject is very complex. The alternative medical practitioners can
only judge by the end-results," he added.

As such, he said, proponents of conventional medicine should not be the one to
evaluate the qualities of alternative medicine.

Dr Palani is thankful that the government is liberal in allowing the Ayurvedic
and several other traditional medical systems to be practiced in Malaysia.

"Due to the many similarities in the climatic conditions, food and culture
between Malaysia and India, the Ayurveda as well as the Siddha systems may suit
the people of Malaysia very well", he said.


RESEARCH INTO AYURVEDIC MEDICINE AND SUPPORT FROM GOVERNMENT

In developing alternative medicine here, Dr Lee noted that India is willing to
cooperate with Malaysia to explore the potential of our natural herbs.

In this respect Dr Lee invited the National Institute of Unani Medicine (NIUM)
in Bangalore, India, to undertake joint research on natural herbs with the
Forest Research Institute of Malaysia.

"Many use traditional medicine in Malaysia. However, adequate research and
development appears to be still lacking."

Dr Lee felt that the government so far has given encouragement and support for
research works to tap the potential of TCM but have yet to extend the same to
the Indian medicine like Ayurveda.

"I hope the government will give a helping hand to develop Ayurvedic traditional
system of medicine as well," he said.

Meanwhile, V. Devindran the head of Head of Technical Team of Bigcorp-A Berhad,
a subsidiary of LITNA (M) Sdn Bhd, during the congress said Indian companies
specialising in Ayurveda pharmaceutical formulations have shown interest in
conducting research and trials on health products to treat common diseases
affecting Malaysians.

"We have already conducted research and clinical trials on testing gymnema
sylvestre, a plant used in India for treating diabetes. We are in the final
stage to launch our company's Gymnema Extract in softgel capsules by this year.
We hope the gymnema capsules will give a solution to treat diabetes," he added.
-- BERNAMA



Delete & Prev | Delete & Next