ASEAN meeting discusses role of traditional medicine

Officials are discussing ways to integrate herbal treatments into national health care at the second ASEAN Traditional Medicine Conference, which opened yesterday in Hanoi.

The event is organised by the Vietnamese Health Ministry.

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan said the Government was determined to promote traditional medicine, which he said was the right direction for health care in ASEAN to move.

"Over 60 years, Vietnam has been patiently implementing this move, gradually integrating traditional medicine into the health system to protect the nation's inhabitants," Nhan said.

"Developing and applying traditional medicine and herbal cures into health care and protection will be the main focus of ASEAN countries."

Surin Pitsuwan, the ASEAN secretary general, also called for a concerted action by governments, interested parties and health professionals to promote traditional medicine.

In some Asian and African countries, 80 per cent of the population depend on traditional medicine for primary health care. The provision of safe and effective traditional medicine could be a critical tool for increasing overall access to health care, Pitsuwan said.

During the three-day event, delegations will review the results of the first health care conference in Bangkok in 2009. They will also discuss international health issues, such as human resources development in traditional medicine, modernising health care, production and application of herbal medicines.

Since 2007, the Nippon Foundation and the World Health Organisation have been jointly organising a congress on traditional medicine.

In Mongolia, health care medical kits are given to nomadic herders. Visits to medical practitioners fell by 45 per cent as a result of the first aid boxes. Currently, 15,000 Mongolian households use the kits.

The fact demonstrated that the use of traditional medicines could help resolve the problems of cost and access to medical care, delegates heard.

The Ha Noi Joint Declaration will be adopted by delegations at the end of the conference tomorrow.

According to the Health Ministry, Vietnam has 61 traditional medicine hospitals, while 90 per cent of all modern hospitals have a herbal health care department or unit. Meanwhile, more than 70 per cent of all commune health stations offer traditional medicine. About 30 per cent of all patients examined annually are treated with traditional remedies or a combination of traditional and mainstream health care.