Alternative medicine a rapidly growing sector in UAE

The Dubai Healthcare City sees complementary and alternative medicine as a rapidly growing sector in the emirate. "In the last five years there has been an explosion of interest towards natural resources and medicine is on the forefront. The sector is growing rapidly in the UAE and so has the number of clinics offering alternative and complementary medicine. We expect it to grow further," said Dr Aisha Abdullah, Managing Director- Sciences Cluster, Dubai Healthcare City. Dr Aisha was talking to Gulf News on the sidelines of the inauguration of Beijing TongRen Tang, a Chinese alternative medicine clinic, Tuesday. Survey Chairperson of Dubai Healthcare City Authority, Princess Haya Bint Al Hussain, wife of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, inaugurated the clinic in Dubai Healthcare City. Princess Haya said the Authority found through a survey that over 55 per cent of people in the UAE were already using alternative medicine. "We realised that there is a high interest but people are concerned that they should go in for treatment to a place that is regulated and has its credentials validated. Dubai has a proper regulation that not only ensures that the practitioners of alternative and complementary medicine are duly certified, the track record of treatments is also checked and every medicine, herbs are tested for their safety," she said. DHCC through the CPQ has set up a unique Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) governance structure, regulating health care professionals, health care operators and their practices, and measuring the outcomes of CAM procedures. Misconceptions The authority has licensed CAM treatments in 14 areas, including homeopathy, ayurveda, traditional Chinese medicine, unani medicine, osteopathy, therapeutic massage, naturopathy, guided imagery, Thai chi, pilates, chiropractic, and yoga. Talking about alternative medicine, Deyuan Wei, Founder of the clinic, said: "There are many misconceptions that surround traditional forms of medicine. People think they are a last resort, we do not mind to be the last resort as we have centuries old formulae that bring good health into the lives of people." Asked about the reasons for most of the modern day ailments, Wei said: "In traditional Chinese medicine we say ‘what you eat is what you are'. The food you eat determines how healthy you are. Also people need to learn how to relax in this stressful world."