Deputy Dr. Munir Sorour stressed that supporting the profession of cupping contributes to promoting medical tourism in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and helps in developing the alternative medicine sector, calling for the resumption of joint cooperation between the National Authority for the Regulation of Health Professions and Services “Nahr”, the Ministry of Health, the “Tamkeen” labor fund, and the Bahraini Society for Popular Cupping, in order to license more regular practitioners for this profession.
Dr. Sorour that he recently met a number of members of the Bahraini Association for Cupping, where the reality of the profession and the prospects for its development were discussed, and ways to preserve it as an important medical and popular heritage, as well as discussing the repercussions of stopping the national program for the licensing of the pilgrims.
He explained that the program was aiming to rehabilitate about 500 stones and grant them official licenses to work with the support of “Tamkeen”, but the actual number of beneficiaries did not exceed 80 curtains only, which left a clear gap in the profession market.
Representative Sorour said: “Bahrain has always been a preferred destination for those wishing to detention from various Gulf countries, and even professional cadres of the two pilgrims who practiced the profession outside the country graduated, but one of the most prominent obstacles in front of the expansion of the cupping profession is currently the stopping of the government program concerned with the rehabilitation and license of new pilgrims.”
He added that the cadres of the Bahraini Association for Cupping possesses field and scientific experiences qualified to develop an accredited training program in cooperation with the medical authorities in the Kingdom, expressing his hope that the Health Professions Authority will discuss this file seriously and preserve this profession that reflects the originality and national identity because it is the heritage of grandparents in addition to that it is a prophetic year.
And Dr. Sorour about his confidence in the regulatory authorities, in the forefront of which is the Supreme Council of Health headed by His Excellency the team, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, in dealing with this vital file, recalling that the idea of training and rehabilitation of the two pilgrims was launched mainly with a generous initiative from His Excellency, according to what the members of the association confirmed.
For their part, members of the Bahraini Society of Cupping expressed their hope to resume the national program for the license of the two pilgrims, stressing that dozens of practitioners are eagerly awaiting their opportunity to join the program, warning that the absence of this official path may lead some to practice the profession without a license.
The president of the association, Adel Saad, said that the association is working to spread the culture of cupping according to modern scientific methods, and is also making continuous efforts to preserve the popular heritage associated with this profession, stressing that the resumption of granting custodian licenses will help the association achieve its goals in organizing the profession and upgrading its level.
He expressed the full preparation of the association to cooperate with the official authorities to launch a national program in an updated formula for training and qualifying the two theoretical and practical arguments, explaining that the association includes experts and practitioners who have a long experience in the field of popular cupping.
Saad pointed out that the Bahraini pilgrims have achieved noticeable successes inside and outside the Kingdom, and contributed to the treatment of many pathological conditions, which earned them a good reputation at the Gulf and Arab levels, stressing that the currently licensed pilgrims do not exceed 20% of the total practitioners in Bahrain, expressing his hope to enable the rest to join the official national program and obtain approved licenses to practice the profession.
