The
Government is aiming to modernise the traditional medicine sectors, according to
representatives at a conference.

Staff at the Hopsital of Traditional Medicine in northern Phu Tho Province prepare prescriptions. The traditional medicine sector will be modernised by 2020. (Photo: VNS)

The Government cares
about developing the traditional medicine sector and have created many policies
that will help improve the sector, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan told
the gathering.

The Government drafted
a plan that aims to modernise traditional medicine by 2020. The decree was
issued in November last year under the Prime Minister’s Decision 2166/QD-TTg.
According to the plan, hospitals that offer traditional alternatives to patients
will receive new equipment in 2015.

Hospitals that
practise traditional medicine, which also use advanced bio-medical technology,
are able to treat their patients more efficiently.

Last year, the
Ministry of Health submitted seven projects for approval, including building and
upgrading hospitals that practise traditional medicine, giving equipment to
hospitals and setting up management offices.

According to
statistics provided by the Ministry of Health, about 30 per cent of patients
nationwide receive treatment from traditional practitioners.

More than 70 per cent
of patients that are treated by traditional practitioners recover from their
illnesses.

Traditional medicine
has been known to effectively treat rheumatism, digestive diseases, respiratory
diseases, and gynaecological and paediatrics diseases.

However, training for
traditional practitioners is limited, and the country does not have specific
projects that could be used to develop gardens that grow medicinal herbs. Drugs
are often produced in households and are of limited quality.

About 90 per cent of
the country’s hospitals house a traditional medicine ward, and more than 70 per
cent of wards’ medical stations have medicinal herb gardens, said Health
Minister Nguyen Quoc Trieu.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News