As more people in the country turn to wellbeing and wellness services to take care of their body, mind and overall wellbeing, the need for clear guidelines and regulations has become crucial. To ensure safe and effective practices, the Department of Traditional Medicine Services under the Ministry of Health is developing new standards. This initiative, in collaboration with the Faculty of Traditional Medicine Institute and other relevant stakeholders, aims to improve the quality of services, including correct procedures and techniques, among others.
In Bhutan, wellbeing and wellness practices include sorig yoga, meditation, herbal therapy, and traditional massage, among others.
According to the Department of Traditional Medicine Services, these practices help restore balance in the body and mind.
The wellness programme focuses on preventive care, lifestyle discipline, and mental well-being, making it valuable especially in today’s fast-paced world.
“Now people are no longer looking at the reactive. Reactive means that when you get ill and develop a health problem, only then do you go to the hospital and seek treatment. But before you get sick, wellness and well-being services should be sought to prevent diseases. So, that is why traditional medicine has a lot of scope and a lot of money to develop in the wellness and well-being,” said Tandin Chogyel, Programme Analyst, Traditional Medicine Division, MoH.
“In the hotels, they provide hot stone baths with herbal medicines in the water, which we call Chhulum. Then, we have the method of using steam, which we call langlum. These are mainly for people who are healthy to prevent illness. And it is not only for those who are ill,” said Tendrel Wangdi, Deputy Dean, Faculty of Traditional Medicine, Institute of Traditional Medicine Services.
The new guideline will cover important areas such as cleanliness, hygiene, the types of medicine used and how services are delivered, among others.
They will also check if service providers are properly trained and certified, have standard procedures in place and follow set standards.
“We are doing a lot of groundwork here. We are developing guidelines, standards and the regulation part. So if we start, we have to start, prepare for the regulation, monitoring and all, and already few hotels have started these services in Bhutan, and we have been conducting a few sensitisations among the hotels, and we expect more to come,” said Tandin Chogyel, Programme Analyst, Traditional Medicine Division, MoH.
He added that the department has already visited two hotels to raise awareness and check their wellness services. Inspections for eight more hotels are underway.
The regulation for wellbeing and wellness services is almost ready and will soon be sent to the ministry for approval.
Singye Dema
Edited by Sonam Pem
