When addressing the congress, Singapore Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said the TCM community must continuously improve on professional standards, strengthen academic research and enhance academic exchange and research co-operations.
According to a National Health Survey, two out of every five people over the age of 20 suffer from diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol or other chronic diseases. There are about 350,000 people over the age of 40 suffering from chronic diseases.
Gan said that to address these challenges, the Government has stepped up efforts, building more nursing homes, senior care centers, and senior activity centers as well as enhancing our primary healthcare system, through programs like the Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS).
"Today, I am happy to see that the TCM community is also actively exploring ways in which they can contribute to the management of these healthcare issues."
He said early Chinese immigrants brought Chinese medicine along with them when they migrated to this part of the world. TCM served the needs of not only the Chinese community but also immigrants of other races. Today, TCM medical institutions and clinics can be found in many parts of Singapore as well as in many parts of ASEAN countries. The professional standards of our TCM Practitioners have also risen progressively.
Gan said his ministry and the Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners Board (TCMPB) have been engaging the TCM community on a voluntary continuing education program for TCM practitioners. Continuing TCM education through regular training courses will enable our TCM practitioners to possess updated and relevant professional knowledge, to keep pace with continuous changes in the TCM landscape.
He said that his ministry will be setting up a new research grant for researchers interested in collaborating with TCM institutions to carry out TCM clinical research tailored to Singapore's context. The focus of such research initiatives should be on conditions which are prevalent in Singapore, such as chronic diseases, so that TCM can work alongside western medicine to improve patient outcomes.
Wong Chin Nai, President of Singapore Chinese Physicians' Association, said: "The ASEAN Congress of Traditional Chinese Medicine was formed in order to promote the cohesion of TCM practitioners from each member country, improve the standard of research in TCM, ensure the safety and effectiveness of TCM medication, as well as standardize the quality specifications of TCM medication so as to provide assurance to the general public by raising confidence in the administering of TCM medication."
Wong said the Forum on Acupuncture-Moxibustion aims to strengthen the academic interaction, encourage cooperation in research and cultivating of talents among the acupuncture professionals in Asia, so as to raise the standard of academic research in Asia and to promote clinical applications of Acupuncture.
Singapore Chinese Physicians' Association hosted the congress.-The Philippine Star (December 16, 2012 12:00AM)
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