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How do exclusive, tolerant, and integrated licensing systems treat traditional medicine differently?
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health law
Physicians must provide proper and skillful care to their patients.
In the context of health law, legislative approaches to licensing categorize the treatment of traditional medicine into three distinct systems:1
- Exclusive Systems: These systems establish a monopoly for modern, scientific medicine. Only the practice of scientific medicine by licensed professionals is considered lawful, and it is often a criminal offense for others to practice medicine.12
- Tolerant Systems: While scientific medicine is the only officially sanctioned practice, traditional medicine is permitted to exist. For example, in Britain, while registered physicians hold exclusive rights to certain roles like prescribing or hospital appointments, it is not an offense for others to engage in healing, allowing practitioners such as acupuncturists or chiropractors to operate in the private sector.13
- Integrated (or Inclusive) Systems: These systems officially recognize traditional medicine as a formal part of the health care infrastructure. Countries like China and India promote the integration of traditional and Western-trained practitioners, allowing them to work side by side within the official health system.14