As traditional and complementary medicine (TCM) is not allowed to operate over the past month due to the total lockdown, practitioners have decided to escalate their protests.
Launching an online petition today, the newly formed group TCM Rights Watch urged all the practitioners across the country to fight for the rights of patients and Chinese medicine practitioners.
At an online press conference today, Chinese medicine physician Ngiam Chee Jieh (above) said striving to resume operation as part of the "essential services" is urgent.
He said this was because the total lockdown or Phase 1 of the National Recovery Plan seems to be extended endlessly, and Chinese medicine physicians have found their patients' condition deteriorating due to delays in treatment.
Prohibiting the operation of Chinese medicine is violating the rights of patients and physicians, he added.
"We receive calls for help every day. Our patients need our treatment. However, we can only see the patients via video call, and send the medicines to them, but this is not enough to save lives.
"There are certain golden periods for treatment of diseases, if we miss it and leave them untreated, their conditions will change and most of the deterioration is irreversible.
"Other than Covid-19, there are many diseases with higher mortality. No doctor wants to see their patients die.
"Even on the battlefield, there is no reason to stop doctors from saving lives," Ngiam stressed.
According to a notice issued by the Health Ministry’s TCM Division published on June 1, TCM is not under the list of essential services allowed by the National Security Council to operate.
However, during the first MCO last year, it was considered an essential service and allowed to operate.
Previously, three other Chinese medicine practitioner groups have also urged for the resumption of their operations, namely the Malaysian Chinese Medical Association (MCMA), the Federation of Chinese Physicians and Medicine Dealers Associations of Malaysia (FCPMDAM), and the Federation of Chinese Physicians and Acupuncturists Associations Malaysia (FCPAAM).
However, the current policy of barring TCM to operate remains unchanged.
Aim to get endorsed by 1,000 practitioners
The TCM Rights Watch was formed recently by several Chinese medicine practitioners, pharmacists and lawyers, in the hope to urge their peers to fight for their rights collectively instead of passively accepting unfair treatment and endlessly waiting for changes.
The online petition aims to collect 1,000 endorsements from local Chinese medicine physicians in two weeks, starting from today until July 18.
TCM Rights Watch estimated that there are around 6,000 Chinese medicine practitioners in Malaysia.
TCM practitioners are encouraged to share their opinion or support by using the hashtags #codebluetcmMY, #tcmbacktoessentialservice, #AllowTcmToOperateNow and #AllowTncmToOperateNow.
TCM Rights Watch also urged their peers to tag #mkn, #WHO and their parliamentarians or assemblypersons.
The rights advocacy group is also collecting and compiling data of cases of delays in treatment due to restrictions.
They planned to submit a memorandum, including the petition and data to the Health Ministry, its TCM division, and other government bodies.
Ngiam added that traditional and complementary medicine has been recognised as part of primary health care by the World Health Organisation, and the government has also integrated TCM into the national health care system.
Explaining further, he said TCM policy in Malaysia was passed in 2001, and the Traditional and Complementary Medicine Act (Act 775) was enacted in 2016, which justifies the legal status of TCM.
"In accordance with the rights empowered by related laws and also the spirit of a wholesome public healthcare system, we hope that the government can allow us to resume operation as soon as possible.
"We are the essential service and part of the public healthcare system," he concluded. - Mkini
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