Medical practitioners to get acupuncture training in China

BAGUIO’S medical practitioners would be sent to China to learn the latest techniques on acupuncture that will be adopted by the health and services office (HSO) of the city.

Baguio City Mayor Mauricio Domogan said he has been able to negotiate with officials of Hangzhou in China for the exchange program during the three sister city events abroad which he attended from October 18 to November 6.

Among the three cit- ies is Hangzhou, Baguio’s sister city in China.

Domogan said Hangzhou is considered the world’s capital as far as the practice of the Chinese traditional medicine is concerned.

The mayor said he will discuss the details of the exchange program with the city health services offices.

Dr. Rowena Galpo, city health officer said the mayor had long wanted city health officials to be trained on

traditional Chinese medicine such as acupuncture and ventosa (cupping therapy).

She noted traditional medicine has no ill effect on a person's kidneys and liver as it does not involve intake of pills.

Acupuncture, she explained, uses needles to stimulate the nerves connected to different organs of the body while ventosa is a type of deep-tissue massage using hot cups.

With the new exchange program with Hangzhou, Galpo said that they might soon be able to establish a tra- ditional medicine center at the HSO.

She relayed they have been implementing the traditional practice of medicine using herbal, organic and natural medicines, pushing for the patients’ use of “sambong” for kidney treatment and “ampalaya” for diabetic patients.

She added that in 2013, the Department of Health trained three medical practitioners to do acupuncture, which they hope to promote as an alternative mode of treating illnesses at lesser expense to patients.