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Modern
health-care systems are considering the introduction of alternative
medicine.
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The
failures of Western medicine have born witness to an increase in doctor-patient
alienation, a system that prices many out of the possibility of receiving
treatment and a modern health-care system that is ill-equipped to solve many
problems. As South African doctor G. Karim points out, some of the reasons for
the failures in Western medicine are because it has become too materialistic and
atheistic (Karim, p.1). Hopefully the World Health Organization (WHO) initiative
in traditional and alternative medicines can act as a unifying force for solving
problems many have long recognized.
The
past with all its pitfalls laid the ground for Western medicine. El-Zahrawi (Albucasis
to the Greeks) of Islamic Spain (936/40AD) in his medical encyclopedia
‘at-Tasrif’ stressed the importance of a good doctor-patient relationship,
especially the patient’s trust irrespective of their status (Ahmed, p.1). The
concept of service has long been established in Islamic medicine. The hakims of
the east took ‘ghusl’ (ablutions) every morning making their
intentions for the day that Allah (swt) would enable them to serve mankind.
One’s actions were as good as one’s intentions and a patient was a gift from
God providing that opportunity to serve (Haeri, p.220). The much translated
works of ibn Sina and cross-fertilizations of other Islamic men of science and
medicine gave birth to the works of the father of Western medicine Hippocrates
and Samuel Hahnemann’s homeopathy (1755-1843).
In
the U.S., under the St. Barnabas Health Care System, open-heart patients can get
a full body massage before surgery and feet reflexology during recovery. On the
rounds, an herbalist mixes teas for nausea and nerves. In 1997, Americans paid
more for such care at $12.2 billion than for staying in hospital. Sherran Rapp
was taught positive visualization and received massage and aromatherapy at her
local hospital in preparation for a 10-hour operation for a double mastectomy.
She left hospital within four days and was off pain medication within six (HealthWorld
#2, p.1, 3). Now, WHO has created the first global strategy for traditional
medicine including traditional and alternative medicines and therapies. The aim
is to increase safety and efficacy and to help countries integrate these
therapies into their health care services. In addition, WHO will aim to ensure
that traditional remedies are not stolen through biopiracy and patented by
corporate institutions increasing over-harvesting and the likelihood of
extinction of valuable medicinal plants and remedies. How this challenge will be
met comprehensively under the oppressive economic GATT and TRIPS agreements that
legalize biopiracy and patenting of plants only time will tell. WHO also intends
to help in the support and establishment of research methods by providing
expertise and consumer education programs to select the right therapy and
warnings on any safety issues. They are also to publish a report outlining the
uses, benefits and disadvantages of 100 medicinal plants. The coordinator of
WHO’s traditional medicine initiative, Dr. Xiaroui Zhang, pointed out that 70
countries already regulate herbal medicines, but in the West it is Canada that
has gone the furthest in the field with 70% of Canadians using alternative
medicine (HealthWorld #1, p. 1).
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WHO
proposed an initiative for alternative and traditional medicine.
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African herbalists have become so popular that the herb trade in Durban, South
Africa attracts 700,000 – 900,000 traders annually from South Africa, Zimbabwe
and Mozambique (Helwig, p.1). However, it was nearly 20 years ago that WHO
recognized that “… in many countries, 80% or more of the population living
in rural areas are cared for by traditional practitioners and birth
attendants” (Bodekar, p.1). Developing countries are still reliant on
what has been in practice for a millennia. In Africa, where 80% of the
population has access to traditional medicine, attempts were made to brand it as
witchcraft and to control the sale of traditional herbal medicine under
colonialism. Like many, African traditional medicine is a holistic discipline
that stresses the psycho-spiritual aspects and considers it the primary aim in
treatment. Medical treatment is secondary. Research has shown that 75% of
studies prove a positive association between spirituality and health including
depression, substance abuse, coping and recovery from illness and mortality (Amandarjah,
p.2). The fact that only a minority of people have access to regular and
reliable modern medicine especially in developing countries has spurred the
formalization of the traditional sector. In Harare, Zimbabwe, the school of
Traditional African Medicine caters for both traditional healers and university
graduates. In S. Africa, a 48-bed hospital combines traditional African medicine
with homeopathy and iridology alongside Asian and Western therapies (Helwig,
p.1).
There
are two basic models in the implementation of traditional medicine and Western
health. Generally there is the parallel approach whereby traditional and
alternative health systems run side-by-side separate but inter-dependent as in
India and Korea and the other is integration. In traditional medicinal
treatments today, there are 200 million outpatients and up to three million
inpatients annually. Approximately 95% of Chinese general hospitals have
traditional medical departments. In Korea, the situation reveals the conflicts
that can and do occur between the two systems due to competitiveness losing
sight of the point of it all. During the 1990s, there were issues pertaining to
the fees that could be made and the ability to sell and prescribe herbal
medicines. Also there was the problem of
licensing
practitioners in traditional medicine. New regulations introduced in India in
2000 sought to improve Indian herbal medicines through standardization improving
quality control and overhauling manufacturing processes. Those practitioners
that qualified obtained certification for good standards whilst those who did
not succeed were given two years to improve their standards and therefore
qualify for certification. Also the government established 10 new drug
laboratories and up-graded the existing laboratories (Bodekar, p.1-3).
Whatever
system prevails, like anything else, good intentions and effort are essential to
making anything work effectively. What makes this important to health, is that
it can play a major role in seeing the human being as a human being rather than
a commodity or a problem or a case. This u-turn has the capacity to contribute
not only to healthier physical lives, but a life less alienated between the
physical, social and spiritual self. When these elements become one whole there
will be less disease and more mutual understanding of the non-human laws that
guide us.
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