SIBU: Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg has welcomed a suggestion for University of Technology Sarawak (UTS) to establish a Faculty of Medicine, potentially focusing on integrative medicine.
He said UTS could explore combining Eastern and Western medical practices, drawing on Sarawak’s biodiversity to research natural solutions for common and emerging diseases.
“I would like to welcome the suggestion to establish a Faculty of Medicine in UTS,” he said when delivering his speech at the university’s 11th Convocation Ceremony here today (Nov 14).
Abang Johari said he had officiated an international conference on integrative medicine in Kuala Lumpur three weeks ago, which explored the convergence of eastern and western medicine.
He explained that the concept was based on what was known as salutogenesis, which focuses on the origins of health and factors that support well-being.
He said Sarawak’s biodiversity offered opportunities for research into natural solutions to diseases.
“In other words, we have resources in our biodiversity, and this biodiversity resource can be studied where you have natural solutions to diseases, common diseases, or new emerging diseases, where it can be solved through a combination of Western practice and Eastern practice,” he said.
He suggested that UTS could position itself as a major institution in this field by bringing together the two medical approaches.
“Perhaps UTS can go towards that and we become one of the major institutions that combine Eastern medicine and Western medicine,” he said.
