PAAM demands creation of separate ministry for alternative medicine

LAHORE: The Pakistan Association of Alternative Medicine (PAAM) has strongly criticised the reduction in the health budget for 2026-27 and condemned the absence of any allocation for the Homoeopathic and Tibb (Unani) sectors.

In a statement issued here on Thursday, PAAM President Muhammad Kashif Aslam Malik described the Rs130 billion cut in the health budget as a serious blow to the healthcare sector and termed the exclusion of alternative medicine from the total allocation of Rs500.62 billion as evidence of official neglect.

He said a large segment of the population depended on Homoeopathic and Unani medicine for affordable healthcare and alleged that the Health Department was deliberately marginalising the sector. He called the government’s approach discriminatory and demanded that the authorities immediately end what he described as “step-motherly treatment” towards alternative medicine practitioners.

Malik urged the government to allocate a fair share of resources to the Homoeopathic and Tibb sectors and reiterated his long-standing demand for the establishment of a separate ministry for alternative medicine. He said the lack of an independent ministry had resulted in the sector being ignored in policy formulation and the distribution of resources.

According to the PAAM president, the current budgetary situation reinforced the need for a dedicated ministry to safeguard the interests of alternative medicine practitioners and ensure the development of the sector.

He warned that Homoeopaths and Hakims across the country had united on a single platform and would intensify their protest movement if the government failed to address their concerns. He said practitioners of alternative medicine would be compelled to expand the scope of their protests nationwide to protect their rights and ensure the survival of the profession.

Malik called upon the government to review its budgetary priorities and recognise the contribution of alternative medicine in providing low-cost healthcare services to the public.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026