Health Ministry to facilitate (T&CM) clinical trials

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 3 (Bernama) -- The Ministry of Health will help local traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM) practitioners to facilitate clinical trials and enable them to obtain good manufacturing practices (GMP) certification.

Its minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said the practitioners on the other hand must follow quality regulations and ensure that their products were safe.

"If we are too rigid, too rigorous, too strict than it will become prohibitive. It will hinder our efforts to expedite the trials.

"But if we are too relaxed, then you will have a situation where safety and quality are compromised,” he told reporters after officiating the 9th International Conference on Traditional and Complementary Medicine (Intracom) here today.

Also present were Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, High Commissioner of India to Malaysia Shri Mridul Kumar and Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) president Datuk Dr Chuah Hean Teik.

Delegates from more than 10 countries are participating in the three-day conference themed, 'Integrated Approach towards Health Ageing', organised jointly by the ministry's T&CM division and UTAR.

-- BERNAMA