DHAKA: Pointing at the World Health Organization’s (WHO) importance on traditional medicines, its organization’s Regional Director for South-East Asia Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh said standard should be maintained in practicing this sort of medical treatment.

If the traditional drugs are incorporated with the existing health system, it can play a vital role to assure public health protection, she commented.

Health ministers of 11 south-east Asian countries and also policymakers of this region discussed about the matter at a city hotel Thursday afternoon.

They also discussed about the WHO’s ‘latest traditional medicine strategy 2014-2023’ and the way to incorporate this system in the modern health policy.

According to the organization, the strategy has three main objectives which are to establish knowledge-based society and national policy, to strengthen the traditional medicine security, quality and utility through formulating a rule and the third one is to introduce the method of treatment with existing health system.

Dr Poonam said the physicians of the rural areas in south-east Asian countries usually give traditional medicines as primary treatment. It has its own history which is also active in recent time.

“But, we need to ensure that people will get the traditional medical treatment securely and at lower cost”, she added.

The regional director further said most of the countries in this region have strongly been trying to revive the traditional treatment over the past decades.

Among the 11 countries, 10 have national policy on traditional medicines, six have introduced regulations for traditional doctors and nine countries have curricula on the system.

The participating countries granted ‘Delhi Declaration’ in an international conference in New Delhi on traditional drugs in February in 2013.

The traditional medical treatment has been practicing in the countries in various names, for example in Bangladesh it is called as Ayurbeda and Unani.

BDST: 2132 HRS, SEP 11, 2014