 |
Modern health-care systems are considering the introduction of alternative medicine. |
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).
|
| WHO proposed an initiative for alternative and traditional medicine. |
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.
Sources:
|
what is this?
This widget will help you to store, organize, search, and manage your favorite online content through a range of social bookmarking services. These services permit users to save links to websites that they want to remember and/or share. These bookmarks are usually public, but can be saved privately, shared only with specified people or groups, or shared only inside certain networks. Authorized people can usually view these bookmarks chronologically, by category or tags, or through a search engine. Most social bookmarking services also permit their users to vote and rank public bookmarks to determine which are the best ones according to the number of votes they get.
|
