By Asmahanim Amir
Pictures by Shahiddan Saidi

BANGI, 16 March 2017 – Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) is the first Malaysian public university to establish a collaboration with Blackmores Institute in an initiative to create public awareness about the benefits of complementary medicine.

Blackmores Institute Director, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lesly Braun said the collaboration aims to equip Malaysian pharmacist with the knowledge and understanding surrounding complimentary medicine and its beneficial uses alongside conventional medicines.

“This MoU is to share a strong belief in the important role of the pharmacist to deliver high quality healthcare advice and guide people towards better health outcomes,” she said while delivering her speech at the MoU Signing Ceremony, here, recently.

She said the complementary medicines has been shown to work alongside conventional treatments to help individual manage complex health conditions and improve their quality of life.

“We all have come together because we recognize that complementary medicines are being used by the majority of people in Malaysia.

“We also know that complementary medicines have the potential to cause significant health benefits and from a benefit versus risk assessment, they are a low risk therapeutic option,” she explained.

Dr Lesly said the agreement also shows joint commitment to enhancing pharmacy practice for all pharmacists, current and future.

“Among our target with this MoU is to provide internship placements for pharmacy students, so they can gain valuable on the job experience working in the industry,” she added.

She added, they also hope to develop research which will unlock the therapeutic of natural medicine further and find more ways to help people improve their health care.

“Together we can make a significant and important contribution to the pharmacy profession and most important to the public health,” she said.

Also present at the ceremony is UKM Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Industry and Community Partnership, Prof Dato’ Dr Imran Ho Abdullah and Faculty of Pharmacy Dean, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jamia Azdina Jamal.