03/01/2022
Ministry of Labour of Ontario is going to dissolve the College of Acupuncturists and Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners CTCMPAO and make it an unregulated profession (Bill 88, 2022). That means those who are seeking for acupuncture and herbal treatment can be treated by every single person in Ontario who may never read acupuncture book before. Beside, extended insurance will not cover your acupuncture treatments any more!
This decision is terrible for not only practitioners, but for the general public. Acupuncture is an alternative medicine that not only involves onset practice, but also knowledge of anatomy and rationale behind every practice. In the meantime, herbs may interact with other medicines to make conditions worse if abused. It is important that proper education and examinations are given to protect the general public from harm. Since 2007, acupuncture in Germany has been reimbursed by the statutory health insurance, because the German government even funded the research on the effectiveness of this medicine (DOI: 10.1016/j.ctim.2006.09.005), and anticipated TCM as an alternative medicine can reduce government healthcare spending.
I hope you will join me to stop the terrible mistake the provincial government may make, to allow more Canadians to benefit from Chinese Medicine and relieve from this chronic health conditions in proper and cost effective way. Again, Traditional Chinese Medicine deserves higher regulation, more funding for research, because it has equal efficacy and safety as physiotherapy, Chiropractic and Naturopath, under good regulation.
Stop unregulating Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine. 448 signatures are still needed!
