CYBERJAYA: More than 30,000 traditional and complementary medicine practitioners have expressed their unwavering support for the leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
The group – consisted of Malay, Chinese and Indian traditional, complementary and homeopathy medicine practitioners – is hopeful that Najib continued to be given the mandate to manage the country.
Its representative Coalition of Traditional Malay Medicine Practitioners Association Malaysia (Gapera) founder and president Adzhar Latif said the Prime Minister had made various changes in boosting the traditional and complementary medicine fields, which included introducing Traditional and Complementary Medicine Act 2016 (Act 775).
“All this while, the traditional and complementary medicine field was almost ‘missing’ in the medical radar as it is not certified, but then Najib views this matter seriously and has taken the initiative to empower the industry.
“Now, the Act 775 has been approved, enforced and gazzeted. This is meaningful for the traditional and complementary medicine practitioners as the field is now recognised,” he said at a press conference.
Adzhar added that Gapera was recognised by the Health Ministry and that the Act was introduced to strengthen quality assurance, safety, proper use and effectiveness of traditional and complementary medicine.
“We would like to thank the government under Najib’s leadership for enforcing this act, which has positioned us at the mainstream level.
“In terms of economy, this has helped increase the income of B40 group. For instance, some traditional medicine practitioners specialised in postpartum health care can earn a monthly income of thousands of ringgit.
“Previously, they could only survive with RM500 to RM600 per month, and some even earned RM300. The maximum profit they earned was about RM1,000,” he said.
He said his team was also ready to offer its service to help BN during the campaign period if needed.
“We are confident that BN will win in GE14, and the traditional and complementary medicine will continue to grow in the future and Malaysia can be a hub for such field,” he said.
Source: https://www.nst.com.my/news/politics/2018/05/364705/medicine-practitioners-show-support-pm