Compulsory Registration for Traditional Medicine Practitioners

The Malaysian Ministry of Health (MOH) recently announced that it will soon be compulsory for all Traditional and Complimentary Medicine (TCM) practitioners to register with the MOH upon the coming into force of the Traditional Medicine Act, which is set to tabled at parliament later this year.

Although registration is not at present mandatory under the law, as at December 2007, over 7,000 TCM practitioners were registered with the MOH. In addition, 18,200 TCMs were registered with the Drug Control Authority as required by law, which comprises almost 50% of all medicines registered. These are not surprising figures in consideration that the TCM industry was reported to be worth RM4.5 billion in Malaysia in 2006 was expected to double in the next five years. Some of the popular TCM practices in Malaysia include acupuncture, aromatherapy, ayurveda, chiropractic, homeopathy, Malay medicine, naturopathy, reflexology, traditional Chinese medicine, traditional Indian medicine and yoga.

In view of the rampant availability of TCM practitioners across the country, there have in recent years been several calls for the MOH to enforce stricter regulation to ensure the efficacy and safety of TCM practices and products. Unsubstantiated and exaggerated claims by manufacturers of TCM products and the absence of approved standards for training, qualification and indemnity coverage for TCM practitioners are amongst some of the concerns voiced. There is thus a need for the MOH to establish objectives of training and defined core competencies for TCM practitioners and procedures affording the public the opportunity to pursue complaints against TCM practitioners whose acts are not compliant with prescribed codes of conduct.

To address the issues highlighted above, the Traditional Medicine Act will in addition to compulsory registration procedures, set up a council to regulate TCM practitioners similar to the Malaysian Medical Council which regulates doctors. The council would comprise of practitioners and ministry officials and be responsible for the issuance of guidelines and regulations for ethical TCM practice. In so doing, it is hoped that the practice of TCM will become a regulated profession and developed within a safe and controlled environment in tandem with the interests of the public.

 

This article is one of several that appear in Asia Pacific Newsletter, August 2009.