hmmm, maybe a dlugstole too. Better stock up on pracentas.
Placenta, Scorpion Remedies Woo Tourists in Singapore (Update1)
By Angus Whitley
Oct. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Wu Xiao Xiu moved to Singapore from Beijing three years ago, bringing with her knowledge gained from a decade of practicing traditional Chinese medicine. She hasn't looked back.
``Patients come from Malaysia, Indonesia, London, Japan, the Middle East, even Russia,'' said Wu, 40, a licensed traditional doctor at a clinic in Singapore's Chinatown. ``They have confidence in the quality of the products, even if the price is a little more expensive.''
Singapore is transforming a backstreet network of shops peddling centuries-old medical lore into an industry dominated by clinicians with college degrees and factory-produced remedies. Rules that govern practitioners and the quality of therapies are pushing the island to the forefront of a global market worth $53 billion a year, according to Acon AG, a Zurich consulting firm.
Demand for remedies such as human placentas, used to combat baldness, and scorpions, prescribed for epilepsy, will grow as much as 20 percent a year until 2010, said James Tan, a former analyst at DBS Vickers Securities Holdings Pte in Singapore.
``Even in the U.S., traditional Chinese medicine is getting more readily recognized,'' Tan said. ``A lot of people are saying, `Hey, this is a natural product unlikely to give any side effects.'''
Singapore's 1,500 folklore doctors and herbalists, licensed and monitored by the government's Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners Board, aren't the only ones benefiting.
At Eu Yan Sang International Ltd., a 127-year-old producer of herbal brews and bird's nest soup, annual earnings have soared more than sixfold to S$14.4 million ($9.1 million) since 2003. The Singapore-based company's shares have gained 40 percent to S$0.65 in the past 12 months.
Headaches to Flatulence
Bird's nest soup, made from the saliva of swifts, is said to bolster the immune system and prolong life.
Haw Par Corp. is profiting from the sale of Tiger Balm ointment, a modern formulation of traditional ingredients that is used to treat everything from headaches to flatulence. The Singapore company's full-year net income has more than quadrupled to S$80 million in three years. The shares have risen 27 percent to S$6.50 in the past 12 months.
``The new regulations ensure a certain standard,'' said Richard Eu, chief executive officer of Eu Yan Sang, which operates 114 shops selling traditional remedies in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong.
Chinese lore equates health to the body's balance of yin and yang, the relationship between opposing energy forces in the universe. Practitioners, who monitor a patient's organs by checking his or her pulse, use acupuncture, acupressure and remedies made from herbs or animal parts to correct the balance.
S$25,000 Fine
Singapore's government passed the Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners Act in 2000, requiring practitioners to be qualified and licensed. Transgressors risk being fined S$25,000 and jailed for six months.
At the Singapore College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, set up in 1953, students spend at least five years earning a bachelor's degree through a joint program with China's Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine. The number of new students jumped to 250 this year from fewer than 100 five years ago, said principal Teo Eng Kiat.
Not everyone welcomes Singapore's changes. Some medicine makers say modern practices are squeezing out mom-and-pop apothecaries, where remedies are mixed by the pinch or handful.
`Difficult to Conform'
``Older or traditional establishments find it difficult to conform,'' said David Tang, head of the Singapore Traditional Chinese Medicine Organizations Committee, which represents about 900 retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers.
Roy Chan, medical director of Singapore's National Skin Centre, a Western-style clinic, rejects unproven traditional treatments.
``We are not aware of any scientifically evaluated medical product or treatment that can improve wrinkles, restore hair growth and boost the immune system,'' he said.
Traditional medicine is a holistic approach designed to maintain and restore health, said A.K. Han, a Haw Par director. The government rules govern only the purity and quality of ingredients, not their effectiveness.
``With the entire market being regulated, there may be fewer claims about the powers of some treatments,'' Han said. ``You still need Western medicine.''
Western Drugs
Still, the growing popularity of alternative therapies may threaten the dominance of Western pharmaceuticals, Han said. In China, half the population relies on local treatments, he said.
Health benefits sometimes are secondary. Vanity is driving sales of human placenta at Maylande Human Placenta, a Singapore beauty salon, said Natally Tan, the marketing director.
Placentas are imported from Japan and made into potions to help smooth out wrinkles, cure baldness and aid recovery after illness, Tan said. The salon charges S$250 for a facial treatment and S$880 for a tonic swallowed daily for a month.
The fluid, which is tested to ensure it's free of infection, is healthy because it contains proteins essential to human growth, said Tan.
In the heart of Singapore's Chinatown, Thomas Kuo caters to locals and visitors alike. He emigrated from Taiwan 23 years ago and specializes in treating blood circulation, insomnia and Parkinson's disease.
Kuo sees 300 to 500 patients a month at his clinic -- 50 percent more than a decade ago, he said. Japanese, Indonesians, Koreans and Indians account for 20 percent of patients, he said.
``Business is getting better,'' Kuo said. ``People of all ages accept traditional Chinese medicine now.''
To contact the reporter on this story: Angus Whitley in Kuala Lumpur on
awhitley1@bloomberg.net .
Last Updated: October 19, 2006 02:10 EDT
Here's a funny article from yesterday's Financial Times:
Hybrid Mode
