Third Women's Health: Asian Traditional Medicine Conference

Herbal medicine, especially from Malaysia, will gain a wider dimension when issues concerning its quality and safety are discussed at the Third Women's Health: Asian Traditional Medicine Conference at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) Kuala Lumpur in November.

Its organising committee chairman Datuk Dr Rajen said the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Council for Scientific and Industrial Research of India and the Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine would be among the major participants at the three-day conference beginning on Nov 16.

He told reporters here that the FDA would be represented by Prof Ikhlas Khan, assistant director of the American National Center for Natural Products Research who would speak on the safety and quality of herbal medicine.

On India's participation, he said: "It is significant because the Indian research council is a research-based organisation for the Indian government, representing some 10,000 Indian scientists while the institute is the only one in India approved by the FDA for human botanical trials."

Themed "Towards Sustainable Medicine and Healthcare", the conference is organised with the collaboration of the United Nations.

The distinguished speakers expected include Universiti Sains Malaysia vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dzulkifli Abdul Razak, Dr Joerg Gruenwald (president of Analyze and Realize Germany), Dr G.N. Qazi (director of the Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine) and Prof Geoffrey A. Cordell (director of the Center for Advance Design, Research and Exploration (CADRE), USA). - Source: Bernama