Current Status of BTS in India

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Global Trend of Traditional and Complementary
Medicine Dr CHEN Ken
Western Pacific Region World Health
Organization 14 October 2002
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Outline of the presentation
Global trend
Challenges
WHO strategy
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Definition

• Traditional medicine is the sum total of
  knowledge, skills and practices on holistic
  healthcare, which is recognized and accepted by
  the community for its role in the maintenance of
  health and the treatment of diseases.
  Traditional medicine is based on the theory,
  beliefs and experiences that are indigenous to
  the different cultures, and that is developed and
  handed down from generation to generation.
  Regional Workshop on Development National Policy
  on traditional medicine, Oct. 1999
• Complementary/alternative or non-conventional
  medicine
• Refer to a broad set of health care practices
  that not part of a countrys own tradition, or
  not integrated into its dominant health care
  system.

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Global trends Three distinctive
featuresdistinctive feature one

• TRM is still used by a big percentage of
  population. In some industrialized countries,
  the use of complementary medicine is increasing.
  

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developing countries use traditional medicine to
help meet primary health care needs
Populations that use traditional medicine for
primary health care
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Traditional medicine and practitioners are a
major source of primary health care in developing
countries

• RATIO OF PRACTITIONERS TO POPULATION
• Traditional Medical
• practitioner doctor
• Swaziland 1100 110,000
• Ghana 1200 120,000
• Uganda 1700 125,000
• Mozambique 1200 150,000

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Complementary and alternative medicine widely and
increasingly used in developed countries in the
last decade
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Traditional/complementary and alternative
medicine widely used for common communicable
diseases

• In Africa, North America and Europe, over 3/4 of
  AIDS patients use some form of traditional or
  complementary treatment for various symptoms and
  conditions
• In Ghana, Mali, Nigeria and Zambia, 60 of
  children with fever are treated with herbal
  medicines at home

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Distinctive feature two

• Involvement from academic society and industry
  increasing
• practiced by medical doctors
• 50 - 60 medical schools in UK and USA
• medical journals
• researchers and research institutes
• Herbal medicine centre in IMR
• KIOM
• research institutes in HK and Aus

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Herbal medicinal products prescribed by medical
doctorsprescription shares by country in

Source IMS 2002
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Herbal medicines are rapidlygrowing in economic
importance
US 43,000 million world market sales for herbal
medicines (including raw materials)
Other Countries
China
Japan
Western Europe
Canada
USA
Source Secretariats of the Convention on
Biological Diversity (CBD) 2000.
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Distinctive feature three

• Interests and involvement from governments
  increasing

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Legislation

• Hong Kong
• Singapore
• Philippines

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The Hong Kong SAR Governments policy commitment

• To regulate Chinese Medicine to protect public
  health
• To promote the integration of Chinese medicine
  with western medicine
• To develop Hong Kong into an international center
  for research, training, information,
  manufacturing and trading of Chinese medicine

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Regulation on TRM/CAM

• Regulation of practitioners
• Hong Kong
• Singapore
• Victoria, Australia
• USA
• Regulation of herbal medicines
• Australia
• Hong Kong
• Singapore
• Malaysia
• Canada
• EU

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• Countries where acupuncture is legally
  recognized, practiced either only by a doctor, or
  by both doctors and acupuncturists

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Outline of the presentation
Global trend
Challenges
WHO strategy
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Public need safe and Effective TRM with Good
quality Evidence Standard
Western Pacific Regional Office
Western Pacific Regional Office

• Challenges from its popularity

Western Pacific Regional Office
Western Pacific Regional Office
Academic questioning producing using
Evidence Standard
Government Evidence standard policy, regulation
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Challenges from TRM itself

• Variety of TRM
• Mixture of plants
• Rich personal experience but lack of scientific
  sound evidence
• Safety
• Change of practice models and expend of service
  areas which beyond its original area
• Limited resources for sustainable development

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Challenges from co-existing of two systems

• integration
• Ethical issues
• Unproved, nonsensical, unscientific?
• Something patients need and want -- that they
  cannot get from mainstream medicine?
• Contentious placebo effect in TM studies
  placebo benefits can derive from patients belief
  in the value of treatment, and also from
  spiritual, cultural aspects.
• Who can practise
• Industrialization and globalisation

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Outline of the presentation
Global trend
Challenges
WHO strategy
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Regional Strategy on TRM September 2001

• to develop a national policy for traditional
  medicine
• to promote public awareness of and access to
  traditional medicine
• to evaluate the economic potential of traditional
  medicine
• to establish appropriate standards for
  traditional medicine
• to encourage and strengthen research into
  evidence-based practice of traditional medicine
• to foster respect for the cultural integrity of
  traditional medicine and?TRM
• to formulate policies on the protection and
  conservation of health resources.

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RCM new resolution on TRM

• WPR/RC52.R4 Sep, 2001
• Endorse the regional strategy of TRM

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WHO Strategy for Traditional Medicine May 2002
1. Policy integrate TM/CAM with national
health care systems 2. Safety, efficacy and
quality evaluation, guidance and support for
effective regulation 3. Access availability and
affordability of TM/CAM, including essential
herbal medicines 4. Rational use
therapeutically sound use of TM/CAM by
providers and consumers
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Framework for implementation of the strategy

• Good relationships with Member States
• Collaboration with other organizations
• Progresses achieved by past activities set
  foundation
• Networks with experts

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STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION
WHO HQ and Regional Offices
WHO Collaborating Centres for Traditional Medicine
Governments with Units of Traditional Medicine
Countries with National Institutes of Traditional
Medicine
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Focus on

• Developing policy to support the proper use of
  TRM/CAM
• Towards an evidence based practice
• Improving quality
• Having standards
• Others related to sustainable development of TRM
• IPR
• Conservation of plants

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Conclusion

• TRM
• defined life is the union of body, senses, mind
  and soul and positive health described as the
  blending of physical, mental, social, moral and
  spiritual welfare. medicine for physical and
  mental.
• TRM takes holistic approach a social medicine
  and a medicine in related to environment
• It is personal-based - personal medicine
• TRM has its role in this century
• Implementation of TRM strategy offers coordinated
  response to these concerns
• Lets work together

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Thank you for your attention
chenk_at_wpro.who.int