Page 4 - Proceedings of The Fifth Meeting of Indigenous Medicine in the Mekong Basin

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Preface

The Fifth Meeting on Indigenous Medicine in the Mekong Basin, held
during 5-7 September 2013 at the IMPACT Exhibition and Convention Center in
Nonthaburi, Thailand, was a continuous effort, following the previous meetings held
twice in Thailand and twice in China, to strengthen the collaboration among folk
healers, academics, and the national authorities concerned to conserve valuable
indigenous medicine knowledge. In preparation for the meeting, Department for the
Development of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine (DTAM), as the host of the
meeting, officially appointed the organizing committee to help organize and develop
the programme of the meeting and draft the framework of collaboration of “The
Collaborative Network of Indigenous Medicine in the Mekong Basin”.

47 invited delegates from Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar,
Thailand and Vietnam, 9 foreign observers, and 21 local observers participated in
this significant event. Participants of the meeting had a chance to learn about current
situation of indigenous medicine in each country through country report
presentations and participated in the experience sharing during the showcase
session on the second day.
Significant outputs of the Fifth Meeting on Indigenous Medicine in the
Mekong Basin was the official establishment of “The Collaborative Network of
Indigenous Medicine in the Mekong Basin” and the point of contact in each
member country, and the formulation of the areas and forms of cooperation to
conserve indigenous medicine knowledge and promote the sharing of experience
and information.
The Proceedings compile the information about the meeting, information
on country report presentations, showcases and biodata of folk healers from each
country, as well as the summary report of the meeting of the Collaborative Network
of Indigenous Medicine in the Mekong Basin and the framework of cooperation.

We were grateful to all participants from the six countries of the Mekong
Basin for the generous sharing of their knowledge and expertise on indigenous
medicine. We are grateful for Assoc. Prof. Dr. Usa Klinhom, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Panee
Sirisa-ard, Dr. Suphaporn Pitiporn and her staffs, Prof. Dr. Chayan Picheansoonthon
and Assist. Prof. Dr. Choosak Nithikathkul who helped interview the folk healers to
obtain more information on their work experience to make the proceedings more
complete. We also thanked Miss Benjama Boonterm for her hard work on the
compilation of the information during and after the meeting and for the preparation of
the proceedings.