Fair Minded appears to be upset about the Malaysian Medical Association's statements o­n alternative medicines' claims to be able to treat Sars. All doctors have the right to comment o­n what affects their patient's well-being.

Practitioners of alternative medicine do this all the time - telling their patients not to take allopathic medicine for a number of reasons. I practise allopathic medicine and the number of "disasters" which I have observed over the 30 plus years have been the very few careless mistakes of humans beings.

These apply equally to practitioners of alternative medicine too! But most important of all, our science and art are under review all the time. We update our skills and knowledge constantly to keep up with changes.

Control and treatment of Sars have been successful in Singapore, not through alternative medicine but by applying high standards of public health control strategies such as quarantine and isolation, good support in intensive care, and strict follow-up.

You stray from quarantine and you go to jail. The situation would not be like what it is today if those who were sick with Sars were to stay at home and take herbal medicine, as some had done.

The principle of improving the immunity of the patient is good. But the philosophy cannot be easily translated into practice. o­nce you have Sars, your immunity is already badly defeated. It will need good scientific skills and knowledge to keep a human body alive when its immunity is almost zero - like in Aids. No alternative medicine has been shown to keep an Aids patient alive longer than it should.

Yet, no healer of the sick is so stupid as to ignore a treatment if it works. I certainly am always looking for the great cure for my patients. However, I am always disappointed because all of them have deteriorated, some so rapidly that they are dead in two weeks after treatment from traditional cures. What needs to be done to improve the 'inner strength' or immunity of the patient is a healthy lifestyle, healthy food and be in reception of good proven treatment when sick.

Strangely, it is always situations like this where a straight forward cure is not forthcoming that the alternative medicine man is shouting loudest. The MMA is right. There is not straight forward cure for Sars, just good public health measures and good supportive treatment for those who are unfortunate to be afflicted with the disease. This applies to other diseases too.

Practice of allopathic medicine is difficult. You need to keep up all the time. My colleague gave up his consultancy job to become a homeopathic medicine practitioner. He admits that he cannot treat really sick persons, just advice o­n healthy living. It is so much easier for him. No bothersome calls, no reading journals all the time, no need to attend conferences and no need to prove his treatment, and charge exorbitantly too!

Listening to his advice to patients, I believe all you need to do well in his line is a high emotional quotient. After 33 years of practice, I am still looking for the great cure.