Preface

I am not a traditional medicine practitioner. My interest in Traditional Medicine arose from working as a regulator for ensuring the quality, safety and efficacy of marketed therapeutic products (medicines and medical devices), being involved in the development of international standards for traditional therapeutic products derived from ancient Chinese medicine and ensuring the educational standards and professional services of Chinese Medicine practitioners.

All forms of medical services have derived from medical products and techniques which evolved through observation and experience, in some cases over thousands of years. These original products and techniques provided accessible and affordable health care to their communities,were aligned with, as well as influencing, the culture and values of those communities and provided a holistic approach to the wellbeing of individuals. Many of those practices have carried on to the present day and are classified as Traditional Medicine.

More recently, scientific approaches to investigation, extraction and the gathering of evidence are now able to increasingly explain the biological effects and demonstrate the efficacy of treatments. Traditional Medicine is also evolving and has incorporated some of these advances such as the use of electrical medical devices.

The availability of newer scientific methods for assessing efficacy has often caused tension between Traditional Medicine and what is generally referred to as Western Medicine. From the point of view of public safety there is a legitimate expectation that these scientific methods should be used, as far as possible, to validate the efficacy of traditional treatments. This is occurring and is now a very active area of research.

At the same time, it is very important not to lose other benefits provided by Traditional Medicine:remaining true to the underlying paradigm, the holistic approach to wellbeing, the level of involvement of patients in their own treatment, affordability and ease of access to health care.

In many countries, the educational and practice standards of Traditional Medicine practitioners have also become much more sophisticated.

Many national governments and regulators have been in a quandary about how to recognise and then regulate the services and practitioners of Traditional Medicine, for example some classifying traditional medicines as foods. However, with consumers universally being active users of traditional products and techniques, health regulators are increasingly recognising these important components of health care and the practitioners who deliver them.

This book is a very important collection of descriptions of several Traditional Medicine systems that have evolved to meet the needs of their own communities and, in many cases, now provide health services much more widely. It includes the philosophy of these systems, the increasing standards of education and practice of practitioners and the advances in ensuring the quality, safety and efficacy of treatments.

Traditional Medicine continues to be a very important component of health care, both in developing and developed countries.

Dr. David Graham
Past National Manager of the Therapeutic Goods Administration, Australia
Past chair, ISO TC 249 Traditional Chinese Medicine
Past vice chair, Chinese Medicine Board of Australia
May, 2022