Page 7 - NIH Bulletin Vol. 21: January - June 2023 NIH Way Forward

Vol : 21 • January - Jun 2023 •

This includes the conduct of clinical and pre-clinical
research on T&CM procedure-based therapies and herbal
medicine.
This framework defines T&CM as a form of health-related
practice designed to prevent, treat, manage ailment
or illnesses, or preserve the mental and physical well-
being of an individual. This includes traditional Malay
medicine, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), traditional
Indian medicine, homeopathy, Islamic medical practice,
and complementary therapies and excludes medical or
dental practices used by a medical or dental practitioner
respectively.
The World Health Organisation, which helped develop
the T&CM framework, defines traditional medicine as the
cumulative knowledge, skills, and practices born from
theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different
cultures, whether explicable or not, to maintain health and The world’s first traditional and
prevent, diagnose, or treat physical and mental illnesses. complementary medicine research
framework can be downloaded for free
The other document launched, the Guideline for Herbal from the Health Ministry’s website.
Medicine Research, follows the conventional requirements
for evidence-based products.
The Guideline for Herbal Medicine Research is a
collaborative effort of The National Committee for Research
and Development of Herbal Medicine (NRDHM) and the
Herbal Medicine Research Centre (HMRC), Institute for
Medical Research (IMR), National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Dr. Zaliha said this guideline is aimed at herbal products
that will be used for therapeutic claims as defined by
conventional medicine by providing comprehensive
information on what data is required for herbal product
development, which includes specifications that deal with
product quality, pre-clinical, and clinical studies.
“This should assist both the pre-clinical and clinical
researchers in designing a proper plan for successful
development of herbal products with therapeutic claims,”
she said.
Both documents can be downloaded for free from the
Malaysian Health Ministry’s website.
The herbal medicinal research guideline
can be downloaded for free from the
Health Ministry’s website.

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NIH Bulletin | National Institutes of Health