November 24, 2009 15:49 PM

China To Assist Malaysia In Developing Traditional Chinese Medicines

PUTRAJAYA, Nov 24 (Bernama) -- The government will forge close cooperation with China in developing complimentary traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the country.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, who had met and discussed the issue with China's Deputy Health Minister Wang Guoqiang, said they had "come to an agreement to set up a mechanism and working group to develop TCM in Malaysia".

"We need to ensure TCM in Malaysia can have a quantum leap and place it in our mainstream of medical services. It is not only in terms of law and regulations, there are many areas to focus on.

"So we need a working relationship with China where we can learn the Chinese experience in handling this traditional complimentary medicine. At the policy level, we have agreed for the two countries to establish a strong footing for TCM in the country.

"In order to establish a strong footing of TCM practices we need regulation, training, institutions, universities, TCM hospitals and more," explained Liow at a press conference.

Currently three hospitals are already providing TCM as complimentary services with four more hospitals to be ready by the end of the year.

The three hospitals providing TCM complimentary services are the Kepala Batas Hospital, Putrajaya Hospital and Sultan Ismail Hospital in Johor Baharu whilst the four hospitals still in the pipeline are Sandakan Hospital in Sabah, Kuching Hospital in Sarawak, Port Dickson Hospital in Negeri Sembilan and Kuala Terengganu Hospital in Terengganu.

During the discussion with the Chinese delegation, the Ministry also looked into the possibility of introducing TCM as part of the H1N1 preventive measures.

"Right now, we need more preventive measures in place. So now we want to introduce this Chinese Medicine. So as long as it's workable and is a preventive measure, we will look into it and that will help us reduce the attack in the H1N1 second wave," he said.

-- BERNAMA

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