Giving an example, she said: “If the patient is already taking a lot of Western medication, then maybe one of the alternative treatments will be acupuncture instead of herbal powders.”
Last week, Health Minister Ong Ke Yung said TCM is a good way to get more people to join Healthier SG, noting that a fifth of Singaporeans see TCM practitioners.
More than a million people are enrolled in the initiative, which accounts for less than half short of the ministry’s target, said Mr Ong at charity TCM practitioner Public Free Clinic Society’s 50th anniversary charity dinner.
WORKING HAND IN HAND
Dr Heng said that TCM is occasionally the first “port of call” for patients in discovering the health conditions they have.
As the practice is not interventional and “reasonably conservative in management”, patients are less hesitant to give it a try, he noted.
“(TCM) plays a very strong role, especially in a very Asian population, where this is something that is part of the vernacular of healthcare treatment options,” he said.
“It’s good not to neglect it, because if we do, then we are missing out the opportunity to meet these patients at their point of need, and bring them to this journey about their healthcare and their overall wellbeing.”
TCM physicians are now working with their Western counterparts to learn how both fields can work together, said Ms Ng.
