Date: 9/15/2011
TUMSPR News: Dr. Hussein Al-Gezairy, the Director of the World Health Organization in Eastern Mediterranean Region visited the School of Traditional Medicine affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences and engaged in talks with the dean and authorities of the School on September 14, 2011.
Dr. Hussein Al-Gezairy, the Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (WHO-EMRO) and an affiliate professor of TUMS, visited theSchool of Traditional Medicine affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS) and engaged in talks with the Dean of the School, Dr. Shams-ardekani, Dr. Niknam, the acting health minister, and some academics there before visiting the School’s clinics in action on September 14, 2011.
Welcoming Dr. Gezairy on his visit to the School, Dr. Sahms-ardekani reminded the brilliant and long history of traditional medicine of Iran which formed part of the Iranian civilization and Islamic culture and availability of more than 17000 books on the subject was on top of the list among similar practices. He then said the science had been forgotten for nearly two centuries till the time after the revolution in Iran that decisions were made to revive it and introduce it to its universities. Upon its introduction to universities in 2007, a lot of progress has been made to develop the subject for scholarly education and establishment of TUMS and Shahid Beheshti University of medical Sciences (SUMS) Schools of traditional medicine plus some other ones were the examples of the efforts, Dr. Shams-ardekani said.
TUMS School of Traditional Medicine (STM) also recruits students from Mashhad, Shiraz, Yazd, Kerman, Shahed and Tehran universities and it has launched a PhD. Program in Traditional Pharmacy.
The Dean of the School also mentioned the rewriting and publishing and republishing of traditional medicine books. He added that the books are translated into the new language of the contemporary medicine despite being time-consuming and costly. Establishing a research center and some traditional clinics around Tehran and one in TUMS largest hospital, Imam Hospital Complex have been some other activities of the School, Dr. Shams-ardekani said. He also talked about the establishment of a life modification clinic which some professors and some “Hakims”, a term used to describe medical doctors who were philosophers and polymath scientists centuries ago, like other countries such as Pakistan, India and China which benefit from the work of both scholars and Hakims.
Expressing his pleasure for attending the School, Dr. Gezairy said he had visited Chinese medicine, where they have been employing traditional medicine as well as acupuncture and low voltage electricity in their practice in the same hospital that modern medicine was offered.
He later wished to raise some question from the health point of view to be regarded for future research. He said sometimes the patients went to physicians in hospital and then decide to take traditional medicine or vice-versa which could end in noticeable cost, therefore research must be done to determine which practice was more beneficial for certain diseases. Or some herbs have some active ingredients which are used for some symptoms and there are some other herbs with nearly the same effects, then one should know which one to take. Therefore, comparative clinical trials should be undertaken to provide the . best options and even practices. Therefore standardization of practice was to be considered, he added.
Encouraging establishment of links between countries possessing traditional medicine, Dr. Gezairy said in Kuwait they had established traditional medicine that was used only for some and not all diseases, such as hypertension, asthma and some skin disease with good results.
He finally said “I would like to congratulate you for starting the program, especially for the [revival] of the history of medicine as we all have to know about our history”. He then said if the Greek science and history had not been translated to Arabic it would have been forgotten now.
Dr. Goushehgir, the vice-dean for Research, expressed his pleasure for hosting Dr. Gezairy and welcomed the suggestion for cooperation with other countries regarding practice and teaching of traditional medicine. He then disclosed the plan for holding a traditional medicine congress for physicians in the region.
Finally, Dr. Gezairy visited the clinic of the School and talked to some patients and a some of the practicing physician who have already completed medicine and now they have pursued traditional medicine too.
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