The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The Bhutan Medical and Health Council (BMHC) has reversed its earlier decision to bar eminent Dungtsho Sherab Jorden and has asked him to continue with his traditional healing practices.
The BMHC in a 13th November 2015 letter addressed to the Dungtsho said that last time around the council had stopped his practice for a while. It says that in a meeting of all its committee members they have all decided that the Dungthso can continue his traditional practice.
The letter, seeking to undo some damage from an earlier public notice forbidding his practice, now says that the Council recognizes and has a lot of respect and appreciation for the Dungtsho’s 57 years service in the field of traditional medicine and healing.
The letter says that the Dungtsho has helped a lot of patients and that the council would like to not only express gratitude from the ‘bottom of its heart,’ for his long service in Bhutan.
The letter said that as a general reminder it would like to point out that there are various diseases that can be transmitted via needles and so it would ask for new needles to be used for patients.
The Dungtsho in a phone interview said that being a medical practitioner he was fully aware of the dangers from reused and unsterilized needles. He said that he would like to place on record that he throws away all used needles that he uses in the acupuncture aspect of his healing.
The BMHC through a 19th August 2015 public notice published in Kuensel had barred the Dungtsho from practice and had asked the people of all 20 Dzongkhags to stop visiting him.
The ban was mainly on the grounds that private practice of any type is not allowed.
The Dungtsho, in response, through an open letter published in this paper stated that he would not be practicing. He had stated that at a young age he had been admitted to the Chagpori Medical College in Lhasa, by the late 6th Namkhai Nyingpo Rinpoche of Lhodrak Monastery.
He said that in 1959 he came from Tibet with Rinpoche and since then worked actively in treating Bhutanese patients high and low, and also contributed to strengthening the Traditional Medicinal in Bhutan including in helping set up the Indigenous Hospital in Kawajangsa and training Bhutanese Dungtshos.
The Dungtsho had treated prominent masters like the 6th Namkhai Nyingpo Rinpoche, Late Gyalwa Karmapa, Late Dudjom Rinpoche and Late Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche in their lifetime. He had also treated Gyalyum Phuntsho Choden.
Soon after the open letter was published, the paper was flooded with written and verbal testimonials of many patients cured by the Dungtsho, including some who had gone to him as a last resort after all other treatments had failed and had been cured.
