Forum: Singapore should conduct its own research on TCM
I read the article
'MOH studying 18 proposals to integrate TCM into public healthcare ' (July 6) with interest. I applaud the latest efforts in integrating the concept of evidence-based medicine with traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).
This concept emphasises using the most reliable and relevant research to guide clinical practice, rather than relying solely on tradition, intuition or anecdotal evidence.
As a Western-trained medical doctor, I have been sceptical of TCM. For me to apply TCM, it has to be subject to the same level of scrutiny as Western medicine.
But in my 30 years of practice, I have encountered many patients taking both Western medicine and TCM concurrently.
A survey showed that one in five adult Singaporeans relies on TCM services each year.
Our management of patients is always changing, according to results from the latest medical research, usually in the form of randomised, controlled clinical trials.
Doing local research on TCM and using the methodology applied to Western medicine would help enhance acceptance of TCM into mainstream practice.
Mainland China and Hong Kong are leading the way in TCM research. It is high time Singapore jumped on the bandwagon and conducted its own research on TCM to treat various medical illnesses.
Dr Desmond Wai
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
4 hours ago
- Straits Times
Fuel shortage threatens to turn Gaza's biggest hospital into graveyard, doctors say
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Wounded Palestinians lie on beds at Al-Shifa Hospital, which Gaza's health ministry says is at risk of shutting down due to the Israeli blockade of fuel, in Gaza City July 9, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa GAZA - Overwhelmed doctors and patients at Gaza's largest medical centre could soon be plunged into darkness because of dwindling fuel supplies, which doctors say threaten to paralyze Al Shifa hospital as Israel presses on with its military campaign. While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the fate of Israeli hostages in Gaza with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, Al Shifa's patients faced imminent danger, doctors there said. The threat comes from "neither an airstrike nor a missile — but a siege choking the entry of fuel," Dr. Muneer Alboursh, director general of the Gaza Ministry of Health, told Reuters. The shortage is "depriving these vulnerable people of their basic right to medical care, turning the hospital into a silent graveyard," he said. Israeli airstrikes and relentless bombardment have taken a heavy toll on hospitals in Gaza, a tiny strip of land which was under a long, Israeli-led blockade before the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas erupted 21 months ago. Palestinians and medical workers have accused the Israeli military of attacking hospitals, allegations it rejects. Israel accuses Hamas of operating from medical facilities and running command centres underneath them, something Hamas denies. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. World Trump's ambassador nominee Sinha sought to defend US' tariff policies at Senate confirmation hearing Singapore Singapore to hire more than 1,000 new educators annually in the next few years, up from 700 Singapore COE prices rise for all categories Singapore Govt watching job situation for fresh graduates closely, exploring further support: Gan Siow Huang Singapore Man who killed cats by throwing them off HDB blocks has jail term doubled to 27 months Singapore $43k fine for undischarged bankrupt doctor who failed to disclose assets worth over $4m Singapore Female primary school teacher charged over alleged sex acts with underage male student Singapore People working in air-conditioned spaces prefer 24 deg C and warmer: Survey Patients in need of medical care, food and water are paying the price. There have been more than 600 attacks on health facilities since the conflict began, the WHO says, without attributing blame. It has described the health sector in Gaza as being "on its knees", with shortages of fuel, medical supplies and frequent arrivals of mass casualties. Just half of Gaza's 36 general hospitals are partially functioning, according to the U.N. agency. Dr. Muhammad Abu Salamiyah, Al Shifa's director, warned of a humanitarian catastrophe due to a fuel crisis posing a direct threat to hospital operations, desalination plants and the water supply system. He accused Israel of "trickle-feeding" fuel to Gaza's hospitals. COGAT, the Israeli military aid coordination agency, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about fuel shortages at Gaza's medical facilities and the risk to patients. OXYGEN RISK Abu Salamiyah said Al Shifa's dialysis department had been shut down to protect the intensive care unit and operating rooms, which can't be without electricity for even a few minutes. There are around 100 premature babies in Gaza City hospitals whose lives are at serious risk, he said. "Oxygen stations will stop working. A hospital without oxygen is no longer a hospital. The lab and blood banks will shut down, and the blood units in the refrigerators will spoil," Abu Salamiyah said, adding that the hospital could become "a graveyard for those inside". Officials at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis are also wondering how they will cope with the fuel crisis. The hospital needs 4,500 litres of fuel per day and it now has only 3,000 litres, enough for 24 hours, said hospital spokesperson Mohammed Sakr. Doctors are performing surgeries without electricity or air conditioning. The sweat from staff is dripping into patients' wounds, he said. "You can have the best hospital staff on the planet, but if they are denied the medicines and the pain killers and now the very means for a hospital to have light ... it becomes an impossibility," said James Elder, a spokesperson for U.N. children's agency UNICEF recently returned from Gaza. The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered in October 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Gaza's health ministry says Israel's response has killed over 57,000 Palestinians. It has also caused a hunger crisis, internally displaced almost all Gaza's population and prompted accusations of genocide and war crimes, which Israel denies. REUTERS
Straits Times
6 hours ago
- Straits Times
US measles cases climb to highest level in three decades
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox The US CDC reported 1,288 confirmed infections on July 9, the most since 1992 and surpassing the total for 2019. WASHINGTON – Halfway through 2025, the US's total annual measles cases have reached a level not seen in more than three decades. The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 1,288 confirmed infections on July 9, the most since 1992 and surpassing the total for 2019, the last time the nation grappled with a measles surge. More than two-thirds of states have reported at least one case to the CDC, and there have been 27 outbreaks, defined as three or more related cases. Three people have died from measles infections since the outbreak began in January, including two unvaccinated children in Texas. The vast majority of cases have been among unvaccinated people. The Trump administration has pulled back on broad support of immunisation to protect public health. Mr Robert F. Kennedy Jr, the nation's top health official, has incorrectly linked autism to the measles vaccine. Mr Kennedy in June removed all the members of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunisation Practices and added vaccine critics. The revamped panel created a subcommittee to review the childhood and adult vaccination schedules, which include measles vaccines. The sharp rise in measles in 2025 has alarmed public health experts. In 2000, the US declared measles formally eliminated after there was no continuous spread of the virus for 12 consecutive months. The current outbreak could upend this, according to the American Medical Association. Measles is highly contagious, and a community needs to be at least 95 per cent vaccinated to stop its spread. The measles, mumps and rubella vaccine is 97 per cent effective in protecting against the virus after two doses. The current high case count can be attributed to declining childhood vaccination rates. For the 2023-2024 school year, vaccination rates for kindergarteners fell below 93 per cent, according to the CDC. In the 2019-2020 school year, the CDC reported 95 per cent of kindergarteners were vaccinated. In previous years, most US measles cases were linked to travellers who were exposed to the virus abroad. In May, the CDC issued an advisory that all international travellers should to be fully vaccinated against measles before their trips. If current vaccination trends continue, the US could see more than 50 million measles cases in the next 25 years, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The 2019 measles outbreak centred around Orthodox Jewish communities in New York, which had been targeted by anti-vaccination groups with false claims that the shots cause autism and contained ingredients that violated kosher dietary laws. The 2025 increase in measles cases was initially driven by an outbreak in West Texas among the area's Mennonites, who often apply for religious exemptions to school vaccine mandates. Texas reported no new measles cases on July 8, with the state's total to 753 since the outbreak began in January. The epicentre – Gaines County – is no longer designated as an outbreak county, according to the state's dashboard. Infections started to decline after an uptick in vaccinations. BLOOMBERG
Straits Times
8 hours ago
- Straits Times
Climate change made European heatwave up to 4 deg C hotter, study shows
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox People try to cool themselves off at a fountain at Lustgarten park in Berlin as temperatures reach 37 deg C. PARIS – Human-caused climate change made the recent European heatwave up to 4 deg C hotter in many cities, scientists said on July 9, pushing temperatures into deadly territory for thousands of vulnerable people. This likely led to far more heat-related deaths than would have occurred without the influence of global warming, concluded a rapid study by over a dozen researchers from five European institutions. The analysis looked at 12 cities in Europe between June 23 and July 2 as an early summer heatwave drove temperatures well above 40 deg C in some parts, triggering health warnings. The European Union's climate monitor Copernicus on July 9 said it was the hottest June on record in western Europe, where some schools and tourist sites were shuttered as the mercury soared. To assess what role climate change played, scientists compared how intense a similar heatwave would have been in a world that had not warmed due to burning masses of fossil fuels. Using historical weather data, they concluded the heatwave 'would have been 2 to 4 deg C cooler' without human-induced climate change in all but one of the 12 cities studied. This extra heat greatly elevated the health risk in these cities, which have a combined population of more than 30 million and include major capitals Paris, London, Rome and Madrid. 'What that does is it brings certain groups of people into more dangerous territory,' said lead author Ben Clarke from Imperial College London, which led the study with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. 'For some people it's still warm, fine weather. But for now a huge sector of the population, it's more dangerous,' he told reporters. Life and death For the first time, scientists also sought to estimate the number of heat deaths using established attribution methods and epidemiological models. The study, which has not been peer reviewed, estimated that about 2,300 died in the extreme conditions across the 12 cities during the 10 days in review. But about 1,500, or roughly two thirds, of these deaths would not have occurred had climate change not pushed temperatures to such dangerous highs, researchers said. The authors – from research institutions in Britain, the Netherlands, Denmark and Switzerland – stressed this estimate was just a snapshot of the wider heatwave, as no official count was yet available. Tourists visit the Parthenon temple in Athens during a heatwave that saw temperatures exceed 40 deg C. PHOTO: REUTERS Heatwaves are particularly dangerous for the elderly, the sick, young children, outdoor workers and anyone exposed to high temperatures for prolonged periods without relief. The effect on health is compounded in cities, where heat is absorbed by paved surfaces and buildings, making urban areas much hotter than their surroundings. 'It's possible this study has even underestimated deaths slightly because it's not taking into account the built environment,' said Dr Chloe Brimicombe, a climate scientist at the Royal Meteorological Society, who was not involved in the research. Copernicus said large parts of southern Europe experienced so-called tropical nights during the heatwave, when overnight temperatures do not fall low enough to let the body recover. 'An increase in heatwave temperature of just two or four degrees can mean the difference between life and death for thousands of people,' said Dr Garyfallos Konstantinoudis, a lecturer at Imperial College London. 'This is why heatwaves are known as silent killers. Most heat-related deaths occur in homes and hospitals out of public view and are rarely reported,' he told reporters. The authorities say it could take weeks to tally a more definitive death toll from the recent heatwave, but similar episodes have claimed tens of thousands of lives in Europe during previous summers. AFP
