Monday, May 5, 2014

HOMEOPATHIC DOCTOR WITHOUT BARRIERS

Every Year appoximately 50 Homeopathic doctors from Malaysia give up their annual holiday. They make their medical knowledge and skill available to the charity. " Homeopathic Doctor Without Barriers" free of charge for the period of the least four days to eight weeks. On top of this, they even pay for their flight to help the country to which they are sent.

In 1979 Dr. Nik Omar, The President of the Registered Malaysian Homeopathic Medical Practitioners Association or in Short 'MRHP' established the organisation in Kota Bharu with the aim of providing medical help in countries with low levels of medical provision. Since then he has been able to arrange almost 50 assignment for Malaysian doctors. They work in six project on the Afghanistan, Pakistan , Thailand and Malaysia.

"off course, we asked ourselves whether such short stay really made any sense," admits Dr. Nik Omar. However, both lie and the doctors involved came to the conclusion that a physician can provide a lot of help even in short time.

"I don't need to know the country's culture to be able to carry out my duties" says Dr Muhammad Ali Hamzah, who is also the secretary General of the association. The 42 year old homeopathic specialist for internal medicine has served in three international assignment at Pakistan, Afghanistan and Thailand.

"Our principle is to place medicine above all. Those poor people needs our help. We cannot just leave the suffering of the population to the government alone. We should come foreword to help them. That's why i join this group," says Dr Mohammed Ali, who survived from MIG bombing at Al-Fatah camp near Jalalabad inside Afghanistan in November 1987.

The short term assignments have the advantage towards the doctor who want to help in the third World. they do not have to give up their practice of job in their home country. For many projects in the development field it is necessary to be available for at least six month.  "Then i could simply close down my practice here for good" says Dr Mohd Hairuddin Hamid"My patient would have all gone elsewhere. Beside of a being a full time lecturer at The Faculty of Homeopathy Malaysia, he is Also the president of The Registered Homeopathic Medical Practitioners Association, Johor branch, Just few kilo meter from Singapore border.

This is the reason why doctor have been showing a considerable interest in these holiday assignment. Dr Nik Omar file now includes 50 doctors, of whom twenty are woman. He is always ready with new assignment and duties to carry out the charity organisation work and he is proud of the fact that all his assignment is successfully done well in time.

"We are not carrying out development works" says Dr Nik Omar, the doctor work primarily involved humanitarian aid. "We are not able to bring about any changes in our patients living condition, or in structure of the countries concerned" add Dr Che Musa Mohammad, an active volunteer who has served many mission abroad.

Never the lest the work in the slums, where the doctors also live during their stay in the Third World, gives personal satisfaction. It is only important that acute hardship and pain can be alleviated.

"In relation to the experience we take home whit it, we take a lot more from the people there then where actually invest our selves", says Homeopathy Paediatrician Dr Mohd nasir Mohd Zain, who has just returned from Yala, south Thailand worst flood affected area. He is also the Secretary General Of The Asian Homeopathic Medical Leugue base at New Delhi, India.

He says that he has learnt a great deal from the people in the slums of Yala, south Thailand who still radiate vitality and confidence is paid of their poverty. When you return from such a treat, he says, you stand above everyday concerns of the normal Malaysian, you can distance your selves from selfish affluence, says Dr Mohd Nasir.

Unexperience doctor are not sent to the projects, insure Dr Nik Omar. The doctors has to full fill certain requirement he says in addition to medical qualification, character is also important."Anyone who is squeamish and can't do without suite-smelling bath water would do better to stay at home" sum up Dr miss Nik Asiah, another lady volunteer doctor who just join DWB recently.

Work in the healthy centres of the Third World countries is very different from the usually working environment of malaysian decorative clinic; where in most cases a stethoscope, lamp, scalpel and a range of not more then 50 medicine is all that is available for diagnosis and treatment. The most common illnesses are caused by inadequate nutrition, and especially by infection, and for this reason counselling in health care is more important part of the work.

The help provided by "Doctors Without Barrier" is financed exclusively by donation and support of a group of sponsor which bears the administrative costs. "A hundred percent of the money donated goes directly in the project," stated Dr Mohd Nasir who is the Finance Controller of the association. Which five members of the staff he run an office, a small room attached to Homeopathy Ibukota Medical Centre in Kota Bharu, 450km from Kuala Lumpur, somewhere near Thailand border.

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