Lao health ministry advocates greater use of traditional medicine

Vientiane [Laos], December 15: The Lao Ministry of Health is in need of medical innovations and more personnel who are able to use traditional medicine to serve the Lao people effectively, the Lao health minister has said.
Health officials and medical staff should take advantage of the country's natural resources and its many medicinal plants, while making more use of the folk wisdom that has been handed down through the generations, the Center of Information and Education for Health under the ministry on Thursday quoted Lao Minister of Health BounfengPhoummalaysith as saying.
Laos has a long history in the use of traditional medicine, with herbal and other compounds and extracts having been used to treat a variety of diseases and ailments. But these methods were always not recorded and many have been lost over time.
The Lao government's policy is to promote the integration of modern medicine and traditional medicine at primary healthcare facilities in local communities and broaden knowledge and capacity in this field, the minister said.
Traditional medicine can be used in the prevention and treatment of illnesses, as well as promoting good health. Village doctors can learn more about the use of traditional medicine and provide plant-based remedies as an alternative or complementary to modern medicine, with such products included in the list of basic medicines prescribed by the Ministry of Health, he added.
The health ministry has introduced a traditional medicine curriculum at the University of Health Sciences in line with the national policy to promote treatment methods using natural remedies.
Source: Xinhua