Alternative medicine growing in UAE with over 200 licensed professionals

There are more than 200 licensed Traditional, Complementary, and Alternative Medicine, TCAM, professionals in the UAE. TCAM therapies, such as acupuncture, homeopathy, ayurveda, hijama (cupping), chiropractic, osteopathy, and naturopathy, are fully recognised by both the federal and local health authorities in the UAE.

During 2014 alone, 21 practitioners successfully passed the UAE Ministry of Health’s TCAM qualifying exams, including six homeopathy specialists, two ayurveda practitioners, two hijama, and three chiropractic specialists.

Recommended For You

Is motherhood the end of career? 28% of UAE mums start businesses after childbirth

UAE 'unlikely' to join international Gaza security force, says Gargash

SIBF 2025: Feeling low? Poetry 'pharmacy' prescribes poems to visitors

Abu Dhabi emerges as global hub for autonomous tech, smart innovation

Pakistan's army chief to get expanded powers under proposed reform

 

Dr Sassan Behjat, Founder and Principal Consultant, Medblend Homeopathic Consultancy and Research Services, California, USA, said that the UAE has been aligning its TCAM policies for the past 20 years in line with the WHO’s Global Strategy on Traditional and Complementary Medicine.

Dr Behjat who is also the chair of the Complementary, Alternative and Integrative Medicine Conference at the Arab Health Congress, the region’s largest healthcare exhibition and congress, which will be held between January 26-29 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, said, “Many homeopathic remedies in the UAE are now coded by the Health Authority Abu Dhabi and the Dubai Drug Code. These remedies are made more readily available for the general population. More doctors have registered and regulated natural medicinal products in the formulary of their clinics and hospitals.”

Complementary medicine works hand in hand with conventional medicine. Conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, anxiety, insomnia, stress, and post-menopausal conditions are treated using conventional medicine; however, sometimes healthcare practitioners may recommend supplementary complementary medicine treatment to further aid recovery.

“Due to the integration of TCAM into national health policies, not only are practitioners getting licensed to work along with medical doctors in clinics and hospitals but more natural treatments are also finding their way to the list of medication that doctors can prescribe,” added Dr. Behjat.