Fishers Hill Clinic stands on the quiet Main Road in Primrose, Johannesburg. A large sign over the small terracotta building reads, “Chinese Acupuncture & Herbal Medicine”.
Shoes, taken off by patients and staff, lie at the front entrance.
Ancient wisdom and practice
It is here that Dr Richard Yeh, the chairperson of the National Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture Association of South Africa, has his practice.
Certificates of qualification pepper the wall by his desk. He studied and worked in Shanghai before moving to South Africa and has more than 15 years of experience in alternative medicine.
He is also on the board of Ayurveda, Chinese Medicine and Unani-Tibb, one of four boards which give advice to the Allied Health Professionals’ Council.
Yeh says there has been a marked increase in illegal practices. “We are facing a crisis,” he says. “There are a lot of illegal doctors operating in South Africa.”
“They see it as an easy way to make money. It is a cost-effective business to set up and run.”
Acupuncture qualifications
People can often run the business from home, equipment is relatively cheap and there are short courses which are far less costly than studying at university. But to study acupuncture correctly requires a three-year diploma, while a degree in Chinese medicine requires five years of study.
The sole South African institute to offer education and training in acupuncture and is approved by the council is the University of the Western Cape’s School of Natural Medicine, which offers an initial Bachelor of Science in Complementary Medicine, followed by a bachelor’s degree in Chinese medicine.
Acupuncturists from abroad wishing to practise the discipline must apply to the council and their application will be evaluated according to its policy on foreign qualifications. But, aspiring entrepreneurs often acquire skills by means of three-month courses offered in China before returning to South Africa to open clinics, even though they cannot be registered with the council.
Acupuncture is one of 11 professions registered under the Allied Health Professions Act of 1982.
The act states that there are minimum requirements for a person who wishes to register with the council as an acupuncturist.
An acupuncture diploma must be obtained at an educational institution and consist of at least 16 major subjects, including anatomy, biochemistry, neuroscience, physics and zoology. It also requires the supplementary subjects of emergency care, ethics and practice management. But Yeh says it is difficult to bring to book those who do not meet these requirements and practise illegally.
Illegal practitioners
The council receives reports about those operating illegally and sends the offender a letter requesting that they cease operating. “If they don’t adhere, we cooperate with immigration or the police, but sometimes we are not successful.”
Police, he says, act more as a witness to the interventions and the owner of the clinic is often impossible to locate.
Dr Louis Mullinder, the registrar for the council agrees, saying: “There has been a phenomenal growth in complementary and alternative medicine.
Many of these health practices are unregulated by law, which means that there are no minimum standards of education and training and the health of the public is potentially at risk.
“This council has no jurisdiction over such practices and the sole recourse would be to lay a criminal charge in terms of other health-related legislation,” Mullinder says.
Unqualified practitioners of acupuncture pose numerous dangers.
“Acupuncture is actually a very safe technique, but when people do it in the wrong way, it can be extremely dangerous,” says Yeh.
Techniques
Professionals know to be wary of inserting needles on the back of the neck as the central nervous system could be affected. “A person could become unconscious or even stop breathing.”
Needles near the rib cage could potentially puncture a lung sac, allowing air in and causing the lung to collapse. Even placing needles incorrectly in the back may cause problems later in life.
Yeh says illegal operators will often perform acupuncture through the patient’s clothing. “It can cause infection and you cannot gauge how deep you are inserting the needle.”
Public awareness, Yeh says, is improving, but it has been a battle to get people to realise that they must seek out a qualified professional. “Often people don’t know that their specialist is operating illegally.”
While there have been no deaths caused by such malpractice in South Africa yet, Yeh says people need to be wary and illegal practices must be stamped out.
“Members of the public are advised to approach the council if they wish to visit a practitioner, to check whether he or she is registered,” says Mullinder.