MEDIA
RELEASE
University
Communications
View RMIT media
releases and
find experts:
rmit.edu.au/newsroom
MELBOURNE
BRUNSWICK
BUNDOORA
FISHERMANS BEND
POINT COOK
HAMILTON
HO CHI MINH CITY
HANOI
Traditional medicine and public health: free seminar
The role of traditional medicine in the national healthcare systems of developed
and developing countries will be explored by key World Health Organisation
leaders at a free public seminar at RMIT University this week.
The seminar on Thursday, 12 November, is a key part of an international meeting
of Directors of WHO Collaborating Centres for Traditional Medicine, hosted by
RMIT Chinese Medicine from 11 to 13 November.
Professor Charlie Xue, the Director of Traditional and Complementary Medicine
Research Program at the RMIT Health Innovations Research Institute and the
Head of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Traditional Medicine at RMIT, will join
high-profile international speakers at the seminar.
Promoting harmonisation between traditional knowledge and modern healthcare is
crucial to the development of a holistic health system, Professor Xue said.
Our research projects range from investigations into the use of acupuncture for
pain management in emergency departments to herbal medicines for the treatment
of symptoms of chronic respiratory diseases.
Research by WHO centres such as RMIT is advancing the development of
evidence-based traditional medicine, improving the quality, efficacy and safety of
healthcare methods that have been tried and tested over thousands of years.
Professor Xue will discuss product and practitioner regulation, education
development and research in his speech, Ensuring Safe and Effective Use of
Traditional Medicine in Australia.
Other speakers at the seminar:
Dr Xiaorui Zhang, Coordinator of Traditional Medicine, WHO Headquarters,
Geneva, WHO Strategies in Promoting Rational Use of Traditional Medicine
Professor Jack Killen, Deputy Director, National Center for Complementary and
Alternative Medicine National Institutes of Health (NCCAM/NIH), Progress and
Promise in CAM Research: A US Perspective
What: The role of traditional medicine in national healthcare systems
of developing and developed countries
When: 5.30pm-7pm, Thursday, 12 November
Where: RMIT Capitol Theatre, 113 Swanston St, Melbourne
Cost: FREE
RSVP: Tuesday, 10 November, (03) 9925 2564 or events@rmit.edu.au
(please write traditional medicine in the subject line)
For interviews: Professor Charlie Xue, (03) 9925 7745 or 0488 060 218.
For general media enquiries: RMIT University Communications, Gosia
Kaszubska, (03) 9925 3176 or 0417 510 735.
9 November, 2009