Beware of alternative medicine
- From: osj <.@.osj>
- Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2007 08:45:50 +0800
Beware of alternative medicine
Melati Mohd Ariff
KUALA LUMPUR
26-Mar-07
ALTERNATIVE treatment, including Traditional and Complementary Medicine, is a
popular option among Malaysians and other part of the region in treating various
ailments.
But just why do most people opt for alternative treatment knowing well they
still have to fork out considerable sum of money and the outcome is uncertain?
Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) President Datuk Dr Teoh Siang Chin believed
that he has the answer. "When you are at the edge of the cliff and you are about
to fall, you will hold on to anything to save your life. But to us, in illnesses
like cancer and other chronic ones, having a treatment choice of one or the
other is not necessarily a good thing. In fact, it is a bad thing as you waste
time, money and effort," remarked Dr Teoh.
He pointed that alternative medication is quite pervasive in Malaysia and
studies have shown that up to 60 per cent of the population had used some form
of traditional and complementary medicine.
He also voiced out his grave concern over media write-ups on traditional and
alternative medicine which he felt indirectly allowed unscrupulous practitioners
to advertise their skill and craft, and could be misconstrued by the public as
encouragement.
"Some 50 to 54 per cent of our people live in the rural areas. It does not mean
that they are uneducated and illiterate but their capacity to assess scientific
evidence may be less compared to those living in the city.
"To them, news reports become their source of information."
Hence, there is a dire need for adequate control over T/CM so that the
unsuspecting public will not be swayed into believing something that might not
be effective as claimed.
On this, MMA's Past President Datuk Dr Lee Yan San opined that the public has
been misled on the effectiveness of herbal treatment for serious ailments such
as cancer due to uncontrolled advertising and publicity.
Consumer confidence in herbal medicine, he argued, was bolstered by the common
but erroneous assumption that "natural" equals "safe" medication.
Dr Lee also stressed that many patients could have been treated and saved if
they had done the right thing such as having their cancer treated early or their
chronic illnesses such as hypertension and diabetes properly managed.
Currently the government has barred advertisements of such treatment for 20
diseases including cancer, hypertension and diabetes, AIDS, liver and renal
diseases. But despite the ban, there are still many herbal advertisements and
press reports claiming that they can be used to treat a host of ailments.
Dr Lee proposed that the committee which controlled the advertisements to
appoint a qualified traditonal medicine practitioner in an advisory role
capacity.
Advertisers, he added should be made accountable for the information and that
present laws should be expanded to cover those who publish misleading
advertisements in all types of communications medium.
On the sale of traditional medicine, Dr Lee suggested that they should only be
allowed through pharmacy or medicine shops. Even then, he said, the pharmacist
should learn more about the products and be convinced of its efficacy before
displaying and selling them.
Such products, he argued should not be sold unless there is proof of its
efficacy and registered with the authorities.
The products also should not contain any known ingredient that may be harmful if
taken without strict supervision.
"The MMA is not against the sales of such products. We only want it to be
controlled and supervised so that the public will not be conned into buying
something harmful or ineffective," explained Dr Lee.
Meanwhile, MOS President Dr Gurcharan Singh Khera when met at the same event
said MOS is also concerned that many cancer patients resort to alternative
treatment.
He provided an example that latest chemotherapy drugs improve quality care in
late stages cancers with minimal side effects and new supportive care drugs
allow intensive chemotherapy to be delivered safely.
"Hence, in dealing with health, seeking professional help should be the primary
concern and not simply finding remedies from unreliable sources including the
street medicine peddlers," he said.
Bernama
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