I hope you enjoyed the June 2007 issue of our newsletter. We have progressed 3 months, and I hope things are going well for you. The Editorial Committee will always do its best to produce for you an interesting and informative newsletter.
  
The 3rd WHAT ( Women’s Health Asian Traditional ) Medicine International Conference & Exhibition will be held from November 16-18, 2007 at the PWTC Kuala Lumpur. For those who would like to find out what traditional & herbal medicine can do for women’s health should make it a point to attend this meeting. There will also be sessions on climacteric health and menopausal health. You can log on to www.whatmedicine.org for more details.
 
Health care providers for the menopausal woman should open up their minds to such options, and not be narrow-minded or biased for personal reasons or for vested ones. You may be surprised to find out what traditional & herbal medicine can do for our menopausal ladies.
 
It is surprising that NGOs like the MMS have not been involved in such an innovative conference, when various other NGOs & Ministries in Malaysia have always been closely involved.
 
I believe MMS should be more outward looking, and work closely with other such organizations, and not just link up with pharmaceutical companies, who will no doubt be looking after their own welfare first.
 
What more nowadays when recent reports on drug therapy have raised concerns on their use in menopausal women – it may be opportune to look at the alternatives and what they can do!
 
The interesting view-point in our June 2007 issue by Datuk Dr Johan Thambu, our Past President, must have raised a lot of eyebrows amongst our members. His views should not be taken lightly, and it would be prudent for the current ExCo of MMS to ponder on the points he had raised.
 
Sometimes, I observe, we may be weakened by our own sensitivities to views expressed by others, especially when we have had conflicts with them before. I believe such behaviour is childish and will only hinder the progress of our society. I assure you that there are those in our midst who are like that. We should be careful not to allow such individuals to hold us back.
 
If we hold true to our belief that what we do, we do for MMS and not for ourselves, and be honest about it, then I believe we have progressed. As has always been stressed, MMS belongs to no particular individual, although some falsely seem to think so !

Take care!

 
Dr Hean-Choon Ong,
Editor