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Health See other Health Articles Title: Australia moves to censor alternative medical teaching in universities SYDNEY, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- While the popularity of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and other alternative therapies grows in Australia, so does the opposition. For weeks, a collaboration of western scientists and doctors has moved to censor alternative therapies including TCM's teaching. They simply finger pointed at alternative therapies as "quackeries " and "pseudoscience", turning a blind eye to the latter's goodness to the people. Alternative medicines, including the thousands of years of Chinese traditional medicine, are catching on quickly in this health-hungry, body conscious and rapidly aging nation of 22 million people. However, this year has already seen an escalation in the hostilities that have been brewing ever since the Australian government announced that it would add Chinese traditional medicine to the list of therapies that may be subsidized by the national healthcare system, Medicare. Obviously, some see these medical notions as the threat to modern scientific medicine and battle lines are being drawn between east and west, science and tradition. In fact, a powerful and highly influential lobby group of Australia's leading scientists and doctors has mobilized to expel teachings of alternative medicines of any kind from all Australian universities. The"Friends of Science in Medicine", a group that surfaced in January consisting of more than 400 top scientists, academia and surgeons from Australia and around the world, wrote openly to all Australian universities deploring the "diminishing of the standards applied to the teaching of science in our universities." At the heart of their concerns are what they refer to alternative therapies as "pseudoscience.. that are not underpinned by convincing scientific evidence." One of Australia's most well-known scientists Dr Rob Morrison,a Professorial Fellow at Flinders University, even said Australian universities were risking their reputations by teaching courses like homeopathy, iridology and reflexology. The alarmist approach of the Friends of Science in Medicine has proven catchy, although the push to have alternative medicines struck off university courses has been widely lambasted. Professor Alan Bensoussan, director of the centre for complementary medicine research at University of Western Sydney, said that any attempt to ban alternative medicines or any move to silence voices in the field is akin to censoring learning. He said"Complimentary medicine treatments are used by two in three Australians each year and have been taught in universities here for two decades. The recent call by Friends of Science in Medicine to ban the university teaching of 'complementary medicine ' presents a sad view of science and a shameless push to censor learning." The courses of alternative medicines, now offered at Bachelor and higher levels in more than half of Australia's 39 universities, are growing in popularity for more than a decade as Australian society becomes more open to its Asian neighborhood. Research from Ibis World shows the alternative therapies industry has already become a cornerstone of Australian natural health science with the annual revenue of over 3 billion U.S. dollars. In a report released in November last year, Ibis World noted that over the last decade, alternative and complementary health therapies had increased in availability and acceptance among the general Australian community. "This is a strong indication of a desired extension and more globalised influence on Australia's health services. Therapies that comprise the industry are either alternatives to conventional Western medicine or complementary to conventional treatments,"the report noted. The National Institute of Complimentary Medicine (NICM) estimate that 2 in 3 Australians now use CM each year and 42 percent do so to prevent or manage chronic conditions identified as national health priorities. This is one of the highest consumption rates per capita in developed nations and the CM sector is expected to continue to grow at 6 percent per annum over the next few years. However, Dr Morrison and his crusaders seem having won an upper hand in the ongoing media campaign against complimentary medicine, including homeopathy, reflexology and energy medicine. In a readers'poll, taken this week by the Sydney Morning Herald, seven out of 10 readers agreed with the Friends of Science in Medicine that alternative medicines should not be taught in Australian universities. Yet more and more Australian medical practitioners are encouraging the use of alternative therapies. Dr Valerie Malka, a practicing surgeon and former director of trauma services at Sydney's Westmead Hospital, said that while there is no better option than modern medicine when it comes to surgery and trauma, "for almost everything else, traditional, natural or alternative medicine (are) far more effective." "For chronic illness which modern medicine is completely unable to treat or cure - these therapies, unlike modern medicine which focuses on symptom control, work to treat the entire person, recognizing and stimulating the body's innate capability to heal the root cause of illness." Dr Malka said that modern medicine "with the liberal use of drugs and ignorance of the importance of diet and lifestyle" actually suppresses the innate healing mechanism by unbalancing the complex human systems -particularly the immune system. Editor: Chen Zhi [Mor Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
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