Hong Kong (dpa) - Practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine have been given a December 30 deadline to register in a bid to tighten controls on the ancient practice, it was announced on Wednesday.

Those who fail to do so will lose their right to practice, said the Chinese Medicine Council which is overseeing the registration process.

The move is aimed at regulating the industry which is still highly regarded in Hong Kong where people often consult Chinese herbalists rather than Western-style doctors for complaints as varied as the common colds and skin problems to more complex conditions such as arthritis and impotency.

It will mean those with less than 10 years' experience and no academic qualifications will have to pass a licensing exam before they could use the title "registered Chinese Medicine Practitioner".

Those with more than 10 years' experience or acceptable academic qualifications will be exempt from the test.

However, they will still need to produce proof of experience and qualifications such as certificates, old medical records and copies of prescriptions.

Margaret Chan Fung-fu, director of Health said that for hundreds of years Chinese traditional medicine had been left unregulated.

"We need to harmonise and normalise the situation left by history and hence there is a need to introduce this arrangement," she said.

"We - that is the Government, the professional groups, the community representatives and the academics - collectively feel that this is the best basket of proposals which will help us to move traditional Chinese medicine forward."
　　
　　Deutsche Press-Agentur (dpa)

(From HealthWorld Online)