IPOH, May 27 — Traditional Chinese medicine practitioners here want the government to allow their medical centres to operate during the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) period in the Hulu Kinta Mukim, which Ipoh comes under.
The EMCO there started on May 22 and is scheduled to end on June 4.
Perak Chinese Medical Specialists and Pharmacists Association president Hew Thim Fock said he had received many calls from patients receiving acupuncture treatment and therapeutic massage at his medical center here since the EMCO was implemented.
He said most of the patients suffered from sprains, joint pain and various other ailments and there were also patients who needed treatment continuously, which could not be stopped just like that because it would adversely affect them.
“Traditional Chinese treatment is the same as modern treatment, its function is the same as giving treatment to patients. So I really hope the government gives permission for this service to be allowed to operate as usual.
“We (practitioners) have also fully received two doses of vaccine just like other medical practitioners, so I sincerely hope that treatments such as acupuncture and Tuina massage can be allowed to operate throughout the EMCO (period),” he said in a statement here today.
Meanwhile, Perak Traditional Chinese Medicine Specialists Association president Leong Tuck Seng said the ban on not allowing traditional Chinese medicine centres to operate during the EMCO made it very difficult for existing patients to receive proper treatment.
“We do not want to object to the SOP (standard operating procedures) set by the government but this traditional Chinese health service is also an essential service, patients have the right to choose which treatment is appropriate.
“Traditional medicine is continuous treatment, as patients have to undergo treatment continuously every week especially chronic patients. If these medical centres are not operational, it will be inconvenient for patients,” he said.
He said strict SOP were also practised with only two patients allowed to undergo treatment at a time.
Meanwhile, a stage four breast cancer patient, Looi Kim Foong, 69, said she hoped that the government would give permission for traditional Chinese treatment centres to operate during the EMCO.
“If the EMCO is extended, it will be very difficult because I will feel sick all the time,” she said, adding that she had received treatment at a traditional Chinese medicine treatment centre in Pengkalan here since a year ago.
The mukim was placed under the EMCO due to a surge in COVID-19 cases there.
