TWO MORE CHINESE MEDICINE UNIVERSITIES TO BE RECOGNISED By Tham Choy Lin

BEIJING, Nov 7 (Bernama) -- Malaysia will recognise two more traditional
medicine universities in China to expand the pool of qualified practitioners to
work in government hospitals and boost health tourism.

Malaysian Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai said the two were the Tianjin
University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Guangzhou University of
Chinese Medicine which he would be visiting.

The minister is on a five-day working visit here to attend the World Health
Organisation Congress on Traditional Medicine which begins Friday.

"We are adding another branch to health tourism to draw more visitors to
Malaysia for wellness and spa programmes apart from those seeking medical
treatments. This will help boost the economic stimulus measures announced by the
government a few days ago," Liow said after hosting Malaysian students to dinner
at the Malaysian embassy after his arrival Thursday.

He said Malaysia had great wealth in traditional wellbeing practices from
its multi-ethnic races and the Southeast Asian countries and Australia would be
targeted for a start.


"Tourists can come and enjoy the traditional Malay urut (massage), Chinese
acupressure massage or Indian Ayurvedic treatments. We have high quality
standards and yet very affordable," he added.

Malaysia has recognised three Chinese establishments -- Beijing
University of Chinese Medicine, Shanghai University of Chinese Medicine and the
Nanjing Universities since the beginning of this year.

The Tianjin and Guangzhou universities are also well-known establishments
in
the field.

The Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine is affiliated to the
First Teaching Hospital which is the largest acupuncture and moxibustion centte
in China, while the Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine has a
government-authorised research base in clinical pharmacology.

"We will look into recognising more universities. Malaysian graduates from
these institutions don't have to sit for another examination when they return
home and want to work in government hospitals," Liow said.


Malay, Chinese and Indian traditional complementary healthcare offering
acupuncture, massage and herbal medicine are available in three government
hospitals, namely Putrajaya Hospital, Kepala Batas Hospital and Sultan Ismail
Hospital in Johor Baharu.

Liow said it would be expanded to three more hospitals next year, in
Terengganu, Sabah and Sarawak.

The Health Ministry had also registered about 7,000 practitioners, via
seven
established umbrella organisations, leading to the traditional and complementary
medicine draft bill which would be tabled in Parliament next year.

-- BERNAMA