Page 83 - Proceedings of The Fifth Meeting of Indigenous Medicine in the Mekong Basin

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THE OFFICIAL ESTABLISHMENT OF

“THE COLLABORATIVE NETWORK OFINDIGENOUS MEDICINE
IN THE MEKONG BASIN”
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AND FRAMEWORK OF COOPERATION

Introduction
The Mekong Basin, covering Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar,
Thailand, and Vietnam is rich in ethnic and biological diversity. One of the most
valuable indigenous knowledge of ethnic people in Mekong Basin is indigenous
medicine which still plays an important role in the health care of people in the rural
communities in this region.
Attempts have been made to organize the meetings of folk healers from
countries of the Mekong Basin as a platform to exchange their knowledge and
experience on indigenous medicine practice and medicinal plants used and to
eventually form a network of folk healers from the six countries involved. The First
and Second Meeting on Indigenous Medicine in Mekong Basin was initiated by the
School of Traditional and Alternative Medicine, Chiangrai Rajabhat University,
Chiangrai province, Thailand. The Third Meeting was held in Jinghong, Yunnan
Province, China with the cooperation of Hospital of Traditional Dai Medicine of
Xishuang Bannavzand Chinese Folk Healer Association, while the Fourth Meeting
was organized last year in Kunming in collaboration with Yunnan University of TCM,
and Yunnan Association for Sciences and Technologies.
In 2012, the Fifth Meeting on Indigenous Medicine in the Mekong Basin was
organized by the Department for Development of Thai Traditional and Alternative
Medicine, Thailand Ministry of Public Health, in collaboration with School of
Medicine, Mahasarakarm University, Mahasarakarm province and Chao Phraya
Abhaibhubejhr Hospital, Prachinburi province. In contrast to the previous
th
meetings, the 5 Meeting was aimed to strengthen and step up the
collaboration in indigenous medicine to an international level; hence, top
officials from in the national offices responsible for the conservation of indigenous
medicine and the practice of folk healers were invited to participate in the meeting.
As a result of the Fifth Meeting on Indigenous Medicine in the Mekong Basin,
six member countries; namely, Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and
Vietnam, agreed to officially establish “The Collaborative Network of Indigenous
Medicine in the Mekong Basin” to conserve indigenous medicine knowledge and
promote the sharing of experience and information and other forms of cooperation
among member countries.

General Objectives
This document notifies the official establishment of “The Collaborative
Network in Indigenous Medicine in the Mekong Basin” and identifies point of
contact in each member country. This document also provides the framework of

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Annex 3 of Summary Report page 67