December 29, 2018
ice President U Myint Swe delivered an opening address at the 19th Myanmar Traditional Medicine Practitioners Conference in Nay Pyi Taw yesterday.
Vice President U Myint Swe said that the Myanmar Traditional Medicine Practitioners Conference has been held annually since 2000, and this year marked the 19th session of the conference.
In his opening speech, Vice President U Myint Swe said, this conference was being held to promote knowledge of Myanmar Traditional Medicine and the traditional medicine professional, improving the code of conduct of practitioners, and providing more healthcare services to the public through the use of traditional medical science, developing the Myanmar traditional medicine professional and improving traditional medicine.
Strong evidence has been found which proved that Myanmar traditional medicine has been practiced since the time of Tagaung, Sri Ksetra, and Bagan.
hanks to the efforts of Myanmar traditional medicine practitioners, ministries related to traditional medicine, professionals, and the research conducted by monks throughout the long history of Myanmar, traditional medicine has progressed and evolved into a profession in which the Myanmar people took pride.
Having developed over successive generations, Myanmar Traditional Medicine has been found to include medical aspects of the teachings of Theravada Buddhism, daily traditions, and Myanmar traditional philosophies and beliefs. Myanmar traditional medicines and practices have also developed in keeping with the climate and geographical nature and natural herbal resources.
By encouraging traditional medicine, which is the heritage of the Myanmar people, and its potency, which has made Myanmar people fit and healthy and intelligent all through our history, the Union Government has aided the emergence and development of a powerful traditional medicine, in accordance with the current times. Our practitioners, producers, concerned ministries, and our people must work with each other for the sustainable development of traditional medicine.
Today, the Union Government has been making efforts on all fronts to save Myanmar traditional healing practices, which are on the brink of extinction, by encouraging experienced and learned practitioners, and working to rediscover traditional treatises and therapies written on ancient palm leaf manuscripts called ‘Pay, Parabaik’, highly effective traditional healing practices, valuable herbs, highly valuable medicinal plants, and natural herbal and mineral resources of medicinal value.
Especially, the Union Government has been encouraging for integrating traditional medicine practitioners and exposing and collecting diverse traditional medicinal professionals of traditional medicine associations, healing ways and effective medicine region-wise.
Hence, the Union Government has convened this state-level conference and seminars annually for traditional medicine practitioners from around the country so they can share their knowledge each other, and this fine tradition has existed until today.
The Department of Traditional Medicine of the Ministry of Health and Sports has been providing medical care to the people and has helped produce qualified practitioners by establishing the Traditional Medicine University in 2001. In the drive to promote traditional medicine, the Union Government is working with the Traditional Medicine Council, the Myanmar Traditional Medicine Practitioners Association, and advisers for Traditional Medicine.
Besides, to develop traditional medicine, including treatment methods and research, Myanmar is cooperating with traditional medicine organizations from the ASEAN Task Force on Traditional Medicine (ATFTM), BIMSTEC, and Mekong region countries.
To set standards and adopt rules for registration of traditional medicine, Myanmar, is cooperating with ASEAN countries as a member of the ASEAN Traditional Medicine Health Supplement Product Working Group (TMHS PWG). It is also working with Japan, China, India, and Korea on matters related to traditional medicine. Besides, to preserve the healing practices and methods of Myanmar traditional medicine, which is based on the Four Great Nayar, as a national heritage and to develop them, we are coordinating with the Intellectual Property Rights Department.
To review and to test the old Myanmar traditional medicine teaching methods, which have been used across the ages, and to promote and propagate traditional medicine, the Myanmar Traditional Medicine University has re-written its curriculum.
To implement the Health and Sports Ministry’s objective of enabling every citizen to attain full life expectancy and enjoy longevity of life and to ensure that every citizen is free from disease, the Traditional Medicine Department has taken several initiatives, including disseminating knowledge about health, disease prevention, and providing effective treatment for infection at the grassroots level in rural areas.
Our traditional medicine practitioners are requested and urged to cooperate with each other with goodwill, wisdom and utmost diligence, to pass the Myanmar traditional medicine, which comprises experiences and knowledge of our ancestral medicine practitioners and those who made treatises on traditional medicine, with the assistance of the Union Government and ministries concerned, down to future generations, without deviating from the original medical philosophy, potency, and professional knowledge.
Let me conclude my opening address by wishing you success in implementing the conference objectives of working together to promote the traditional medicine industry in the country and raising the standards of traditional medicine, training and producing efficient practitioners, promoting research to find new medicines and remedies, enforcing medical ethics, and working together to deter fake practitioners.
Following his speech, Union Minister for Health and Sports Dr. Myint Htwe read out the message from President U Win Myint to the conference and the opening ceremony came to an end.
Afterwards, Vice President U Myint Swe visited the booths of the 19th Traditional Medicine Practitioners Conference.
The opening ceremony was attended by Union Ministers Lt-Gen Kyaw Swe, U Ohn Win, U Khin Maung Cho, Dr. Myint Htwe and Dr. Win Myat Aye, Nay Pyi Taw Council Chairman Dr. Myo Aung, deputy ministers U Hla Kyaw and Dr. Daw Mya Lay Sein, Chairman of the Pyithu Hluttaw Health and Sports Development Committee Dr. San Shwe Win, Chairman of Amyotha Hluttaw Health, Sports and Culture Committee Dr. Zaw Lin Htut, ambassadors, permanent secretaries of ministries, deirectors-general, members of the Traditional Medicine Council, Traditional Medicine advisers, representatives from the Myanmar Traditional Practitioners Association, officials from Non-Governmental Organizations, traditional medicine producers, and special guests. The conference was led by Union Minister Dr. Myint Htwe. In the evening, Vice President U Myint Swe attended the dinner to mark the 19th conference at the Myanmar International Convention Centre-II.— MNA (Translated by AMS)
